Beneath the Skin
by LKGM
Summary: One of King Orion's most fearsome Zoanthrope generals seeks vengeance upon his monarch
1. Prologue: A Twisted Tale

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters who were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Prologue: A Twisted Tale

A New Commander and a Cruel Monarchy

_During the Age of Feuding between humans and Zoanthropes, a new kingdom was born._

_Founded upon a dream of peace and equality for humans and Zoanthropes alike, this new land attracted scores of Zoanthropes from far and wide. However, the kingdom was young, and it relied heavily on it's Zoanthrope army for security and it's special brigade of Zoanthrope mercenaries for income. Even more troublesome for the infant nation were rumors of cruel experiments being carried out on Zoanthropes to discover the secret behind their mysterious ability to transform into fighting beasts._

_Though nearly everyone, human and Zoanthrope alike, opposed these experiments, no one could prove these experiments were actually taking place._

Everyone who had worked in the castle, from the highest nobles to Tabatha Ray, the elderly nanny of the castle, was present at the signing of the treaty, and even some civilians had been able to sneak onto the castle grounds to watch the suspenseful singing of a treaty that would hopefull bring prosperity to the kingdom. The two men sat at an elogant table, covered in gold and jewels, King Orion, king of the newly-founded kingdom and Gado, a well-known Zoantrope mercenary were reading over papers, making idle conversation about the documents in front of them. King Orion was an elderly man with a beard that went down to his waist, his grey hair was covered by a tall, blue hat that bore the royal crest. He was, as usual for the king, dressed in his grey robe, also adorned with the royal crest. Gado, on the other hand, was a towering man with blonde hair and a scar that ran from his forehead, over his left eye, and down to his jawline. How Gado aquired this scar was a mystry to everyone, but judging from his violent past, it is assumed to be a battle scar. Unlike everyone else in the room, Gado was in his street-clothes and didn't dress up for the occasion. He wore his usual beige pants that had a red and white triangle on the thigh of each leg and a red, white and blue bullseye on the outside of either knee, below that were a series of green and yellow stripes. Gados shirt seemed to outline his body and cut off at his shoulders, displaying Gado's bulkign arms and the claw marks he had received on either shoulder from anti-Zoanthrope warfare, though he was a Lion Zoanthrope himself. King Orion then turned to Gado, but Gado continued to read,

King Orion: Peace for humans and Zoanthropes will now be your job to insure.

Gado and King Orion stood up shook each other's hand and King Orion stared a hole into Gado,

King Orion: You must remember, humans are not evil, they are just afraid of your powers. Tread with care, Gado.

King Orion put up his left hand and Gado put up both of his hands, showing that peace might just have been reached between humans and Zoanthropes. King Orion then smiled and with a polite wave, left the room as Cronos followed behind him.

Cronos, a young Zoanthrope, was in the attire he saved for special occasions. He wore a yellow and black shirt that cut off at the top of the bicep and had a color, but cut off just below the shoulder bone. The black sleeves ran about an inch down his arms then stopped, exposing his arms up until his hands, where he had a pair of black wristcuffs and biker gloves. The buttons on his shirt glistened with the light of the sun as he stopped dead when his father told him his plans. The black pants on his legs tightened, causing the white knee-pads to shift a little. The sun's light hit the knives strapped to his white, ankle-high boots. Cronos yelled at his father, King Orion after the news he had just been told about the rumored experiments.

Cronos: You've ordered another round of experiments?! That's insane!

At this, Cronos took out one of the knives attached to his boots with great speed and held it up and turned it around so that the blade was facing him. The light of the sun glared off the blade, blinding a passing civilian who had snuck onto palace grounds. The civilian looked at the confrontation and decided to let the two handle it and not get involved for two reasons. The first was that it dealt with Zoanthropes, something that this civilian believed were scum and rejected by ay higher power, and secondly because if she was caught, she would killed on the spot for she was not supposed to be where she was and she was a lower-class civilian. Cronos then took aim for his throat, ready and willing to end his own life for the sake of the discontinuation of these cruel experiments.

Cronos: You'll have to do it alone!

Cronos then tensed his arms, ready to pierce himself with his knife, ending his existence.

King Orion: NO!!!

King Orion turned around with a surprising amount of force for a man of his age, backhanded Cronos in the arm, knocking the knife from Cronos, and knocking his son to his knees. The knife slid to the walls and the blade shattered up on impact with the ground.

King Orion: If humans and Zoanthropes are to live in peace, the research must continue.

Orion sternly glared at his son, who averted his gaze. A silent conversation ensued followed by Orion turning around and walking away.

Cronos still on his knees stared off blankly at the sky as he contemplated his father's words.

Cronos: Humans...Zoanthropes...in peace.

Cronos got up from his knees and looked at his father with eyes like that of a child who had just done something wrong and King Orion walked down the corridor and exited the castle, with Cronos on his tail.

The crowd cheered as King Orion addresed his people, but Cronos gave no heed as he stared at the sky, again contemplating the research and if it was neccessary for the experiments to continue.


	2. Chapter 1: Destiny

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 1: Destiny

Wandering Souls and the Past Revisited

The blazing heat scorched down upon the man as he continued to wander the desert. Why he still had his jacket, he didn't know, but it felt as if it were a part of him. Perhaps it was because he had gruesome marks all over his body. Maybe it was the criminal numbers printed on his arms. Perhaps it was because his Zoanthrope mark was on his arm and if there were any law officials around they would capture him and try to bring him back to the military from which he ran.

As the man climbed to the top of the dune, he stumbled and collapsed. Sand filled his mouth and he got on his knees, spitting it out as soon as it came in. An eastern wind hit him hard in the back and he covered his cold, gray eyes with the same jacket that he had been wearing since the day he joined the upper echelon of the military.

Three Years Ago

"Ah, Let. You're here. Come. Sit down."

King Orion motioned for Let to sit down at the table presented in front of him. Let was young man, in his late teens. His hair was gray from his family's history. He wasn't exactly sure what was so secretive about it, but he had vowed to find out and joined the Zoanthrope military to pass the time until his father told him.

Let sat down nervously and clutched his forehead in pain. There was a scar that ran from the point of his widow's peak to just above his right eyebrow. The scar that had been there from his birth was having another "episode". Just what the scar was for, he didn't know. But even his family had been shunning him just for having it. After the pain subsided, Let looked around, the necklace of a cross moving very little at Let's subtle movements.

"Is something troubling you?"

Orion's voice broke into Let's thoughts and he almost jumped at the king's booming voice.

"No. No. Sorry, your highness. I was just a little distracted. I've never been in here and I have no idea what to expect."

"Don't worry. Everyone does. Even Shuren over there was nervous when he first came in."

Let looked behind him to see the most experienced member of the Four Generals, Shuren, leaning against the wall behind him, staring at him. When Let turned around, Shuren averted his hazel eyes away from the Zoanthrope.

Shuren was dressed in his standard apparel. His black shirt still cut from his recent mission, his jeans still battered from the harsh winds. Let tried to get a smile out of his role model, but Shuren was closed off, and was never really one that you would talk to, not that he would let you. Let then looked to Gale, standing to Shuren's left.

Gale was a slightly older man then Shuren, and was much more imposing then Shuren's athletic posture. The age difference between Shuren and Gale made Shuren's ranking all the more impressive and had made a bit of a rivalry between the two. Gale wore his usual necklace, a small skull in the front and a black bead in the back. But Gale had taken special attire to this occasion, and even combed his usually untamed brown hair. His normally black shirt was now white and his denim shorts were replaced with black pants. Let was given a sincere smile from Gale, showing that he was, as his nickname suggested, a gentle giant.

Let's eyes continued to scan the room, looking from one noble to the next. Each one of them had been called to this room to give a more official feel. Eventually his eyes landed on Elle and Julia talking in the corner, not really paying attention to the event. Let's cheeks turned a bright red when Elle turned around and looked at Let. Let was afraid to admit it to anyone, but he had some feelings towards Elle, knowing full-well that he had about as much of a chance as Shuren opening up to anyone.

Julia was a very talkative girl. Nearly to the point where she was annoying, but her talent on the battlefield was undeniable, though her long, blonde hair would continually obstruct her vision, causing her to blunder. She was slender girl and for some reason, she insisted on dressing like a valkyrie, right down to the wings on her flame-blue helmet. Elle on the other hand, took a more casual battle-attire, wearing a red tank-top and baggy jeans. Elle's hair was a little darker then Julia's, but their eyes were the same shade of blue as the ocean. Though Julia was more feminine, Elle was a very determined woman, and often settled the disputes between Gale and Shuren.

Let looked back to Orion who was aggravatingly tapping his fingers on the gold-adorned table.

"Are you ready to continue, Let?"

"Yes. Sorry, your majesty."

"You have been called here because there have rumors that you're talent is becoming more then the lower ranked instructors can handle and they have been learning from you."

Let's eyes shot open in surprise, he though that he wasn't that good and that everyone was giving him sympathy because he was the last remaining member of his family. Orion continued on,

"And you have been so prominent on the battlefield from what Gale has told me that keeping you in the normal military ranks would be pointless and he has even gone on to say that you should be promoted."

Let tried to say something but was silenced by the King.

"So, after seeing what you can do, first-hand as a matter of fact, we have all decided to bring you up in the ranks and make you into the Fifth General."

Let's jaw nearly hit the floor when he heard Orion. He stammered to get his next word out, but before he could speak, Shuren pounded the wall he was leaning on, causing everyone in the room to look his way before he walked out of the room. Gale sighed before following. Gale looked over his shoulder briefly at Let before leaving.

"I'll get him."

Gale stated over his shoulder, his deep voice sounding almost menacing, he then disappeared into the hallways.

Let tried to speak, but again, Orion stopped him.

"As proof of your promotion, your jacket has already been tailored and you will receive it before nightfall."

"Thank you, your majesty. Really, I don't think I've ever been so honored."

Orion extended his hand to Let who, a little eagerly, accepted the handshake. After both men's hands dropped, the nobles began to exit the room. Soon, the room was empty except for Let, Julia, and Elle. Let shifted nervously as Julia broke her conversation to congratulate Let.

"Oh my gosh! This is amazing! You must feel so excited you have no idea what to do. Aren't you only sixteen?"

"Yeah."

"Wow! That makes you the youngest member out of all of us! That's amazing. You're name is Let, right?"

"Yeah, m-"

Let wasn't able to finish his sentence before Julia broke in.

"Well, it's nice to m-"

Julia was broken off by the sound of Shuren and Gale arguing in the hallway.

"What do you mean 'Just let the kid try out the position'? He's just a snot-nosed kid!"

Shuren's voice echoed throughout the room as even Julia was intent on listening to the argument.

"What I mean is, just get to know him. He was in my squad and he's a nice kid. You should try talking to him."

"You know that you're the only one I talked to, and that took years before I even said hi to you."

"Just try it. As a friend, I'm asking you to give the kid a chance. At least congratulate him."

"Fine."

Shuren and Gale entered the room, acting as if nothing had happened, but the looks on the others' face told them that they had been overheard.

Shuren coldly congratulated Let before exiting the room and slamming the door.

Present Day

Let got up to his feet and walked to the town he saw, just over the dune. He nearly passed out at a merchant's shop, but continued to a household, where he gave a polite knock on the door, and when the door opened, he passed out and fell into the woman who had opened the door's arms.

Let awoke to the sight of an elderly woman tending to his wounds. He shot up, but winced in pain at the movement. The woman put her hand on his chest and eased him back down to the bed.

"You shouldn't be making any movements."

"Who are you? And why are you helping me?"

The woman looked at Let, her eyes almost calmed the young man.

"My name is Tabatha Ray, sir."

Let sat up, slower this time, and grabbed his stomach which was covered in bandages.

"Why do you insist on calling me sir? Have we met?"

"Though you might not remember it, yes. I was your nanny when you were just a baby. I see you still have your scar."

Let couldn't help but smile at the old woman's remarks. She was very nice and inviting, unlike those he had met in the past.

"That, and you have the jacket of a General."

Let looker over his shoulder, despite the pain, to see his jacket still there. It was a light green with black fur wrist cuffs and a black collar.

"Well, as you know I ran away from that years ago."

"Ah, you can run, young one. But you're destiny cannot be escaped.

Let looked at the woman and got up, stumbling a little, but he walked over and grabbed his white shirt and put it on, covering his bandaged and the beltline of his jeans. Let then grabbed his necklace and jacket and exited the humble abode. Before his departure he stopped and murmured over his shoulder.

"My destiny is one that you would try to avoid."

Let then put his necklace on slung his jacket over his shoulder and walked out into the blazing heat.


	3. Chapter 2: Company

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 2: Company

A New Comrade and Lurking Danger

As Let continued to wander the town looking for any sort of clue as to where he was he stumbled upon a merchant who seemed to have some maps of use.

"Do you have a map of any sort?"

Let asked almost passing out from the intense heat

"Ah, I just ran out, but if you're looking to know where you are, follow me."

The merchant left his tent and motioned for Let to follow. Let willing did so, being so desperate for a map he was on the verge of begging. Let squinted to see ahead of him as he took his jacket off to relieve some of the heat beating on his back and he put it above his eyes as his vision was blurred by the sand being blown upwards by the wind.

Soon, the merchant took a turn into an alley and Let followed then looked around and realized that it was dead-end. Let began to look around, expecting a knock on the back of his head or an ambush, but there was nothing, and Let looked at the merchant with a bit of shock.

"So…why are we in a dead end? I thought you were going to help me out here."

Let asked the merchant quizzically, with an underlying tone of aggravation in his voice.

"Aha. You see, you're a Zoanthrope, and as far as my concerns lye, if these experiments are real, you should be a test subject."

"What!?"

"You heard me, scum. Ever since I was a child, I was against the law, but now, I have something to agree with them about."

For the first time, Let realized that there was a feminine voice coming from behind the garbs.

"So, you're gonna kill me? Then come on. Try it already."

"Ah, such a rude one, are we? No pleasantries will be exchanged. That just doesn't seem right."

The merchant calmly met Let's cold stare as her green eyes showed a feeling of excitement and giddiness, like a child opening a gift. Let sighed, then looked the merchant up and down.

"I'd like to know what you look like, first. Then we'll talk."

"Fine. As you like it."

The merchant began to take of the merchant garbs she has on, revealing jeans and a white t-shirt underneath the merchant's attire. Finally, she took off the hood and revealed to Let a serious gaze that almost took Let off his guard. Her dark brown hair fell to her shoulders as Let looked her up and down again, this time as the true person behind the clothing.

"You gonna tell me who you are, or do my fists have to beat it out of you?"

Let stated angrily. How he could have let himself be tricked by such a mediocre thievery, he didn't know, and he revel about it later, but for know he would deal with the task at hand.

"The name's Avelle de Leon. You've probably heard of me, General."

Avelle said, a smirk crossing her face, she took out a knife and grasped it's hilt, ready to pounce on Let.

"I'm no longer associated with them, so if that's your problem, then take it up with them."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. You still wear the jacket, ans so your association is still intact. And because of it, I will take your life."

Avelle charged at Let and slashed for his throat as he swiftly ducked and connected ith a powerful uppercut to the stomach as Avelle spat up a little blood.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you, if you leave me no choice, I won't have any choice but to inflict damage."

Let somberly whispered into Avelle's ear. Avelle stumbled backwards, nearly losing her balance.

"Fine, but I will continue to come after you until you show me the true power of your kind."

Avelle wiped the blood of her chin as she took another knife from her boots and again charged Let, and again, Let avoided the first knife, but the second caught him in the arm, shedding blood as Let stumbled back.

"Fine, if you're truly serious about this then I'll let you witness true power."

Let then lowered his stance and bowed his head as he began to channel such a huge amount of energy that it sent Avelle flying back into a wall and pinned her there.

"Remember, you brought this upon yourself, meat-bag."

Let's energy began to surge around him as it slowly made it's way up his body as it swallowed the image of Let's human form as Avelle watched in shock and horror at the power she had just unleashed on her and her eyes widened as she realized that she had just unleashed death upon herself.

Almost as if on cue, a figure came in and grabbed Avelle and dashed off with her, placed her on the rooftops and charged at Let, connecting with a punch to the jaw, distracting Let as he was sent to the wall behind him. The energy surrounding Let began to subside as he stood back up.

"What the hell was that?"

Let looked at the figure in front of him, feeling a sense of fear dashed with anger.

"That was the only way to stop you from making a mistake."

The figures voice was that of a teenager as it stepped into the light, revealing a boy no older then eighteen with a ripped white shirt flowing in the wind as his acid-washed jeans fluttered in the wind. The boy seemed to have an air of confidence around him and it was conveyed through his bright green eyes, though one was covered by his shaggy brown hair. Let looked around, trying to find Avelle, then refocused his attention on this boy in front of him.

"So, what's your business around here? Or are you with that chick who I almost killed?"

"I don't have any business around here. I was just wandering these parts, looking for employment. After the murder of my parents, I was brought into the military, but then I ran away from that and I'm unemployed so I need a good flow of income."

Instantly, Let seemed to recognize the kid who stood in front of him as one of his students.

"Go back home, Adam. You don't want to get involved with me or what I'm doing here."

Let didn't even look at Adam when he said these words, almost trying to say through body language that he wasn't at all interested in Adam's help.

"How-How do you know me?"

Adam eyes widened as he looked at Let. Let then walked past Adam and picked up his jacket. The instant Adam saw the jacket, he not only recognized who he was talking to, but what he had just gotten himself into. Let looked at his former student and then at the xit to the alleyway as he spoke.

"I'm assuming from your look you recognize me. I'm guessing that you also realized you just signed a death warrant for yourself."

Adam shook the thought of who he was speaking to then smiled nervously.

"Well, if this is the case, I guess I have no choice but to come with you."

Let sighed heavily then looked at Adam. He didn't intend to get anyone else killed, but it seemed he had no option but to bring Adam down with him.

"Fine, but don't annoy me."

The two walked out of the alley way, forgetting completely about the woman they had just encountered. Let looked at Adam with a bit of confusion then averted his gaze.

"So, how did you get the abilities to do all of that stuff back there?"

"Well, before running away, they experimented on me in the castle…at least, I think they did. I can't remember very clearly, but what I do remember was looking into glass and seeing a deformed version of myself and this spurred me to run from the military."

"Wait-you were experimented on?! They put Zoanthrope DNA into you?"

"Yeah, why?"

Let stopped and looked in the direction of King Orion's castle, which had appeared over the dunes.

"Well…it seems I have a new destination."

Adam looked from Let to the castle and realized just what his former teacher meant. He then cursed under his breath.


	4. Chapter 3: Funeral March

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 3: Funeral March

A Story Uncovered and a Choice Faced

"You know we're probably going to die."

Let's cold voice broke the eerie silence between him and his student, Adam. Adam had just saved his mentor from killing a woman named Avelle de Leon, a renowned thief. After this daring rescue, Adam joined Let's party to destroy the cruel experiments being held at the castle on Zoanthropes.

"You're a good friend."

Adam hadn't lost a step. Even in training, he had always been a joker. Making light-hearted jokes in training, in camp, and even on the battlefield, despite how out of place his cracks were. Let smirked at Adam's remarked. Let looked at Adam then back at the castle where they were headed.

"So…I gotta ask. What happened? You weren't born a Zoanthrope." Let asked; partially to keep from having an awkward silence and partially out of his own curiosity.

Adam smiled a little then changed to his usually hidden serious demeanor, "Well, it was a couple years ago…

Five Years Ago

The scientists were scurrying back and forth like the rats in the cage, looking for the cheese at the end of the maze. Despite the progress humans had made in the newfound kingdom, they were still rats in a cage forged by some unbeknown force, kept alive to be experimented on.

Suddenly, a crash at the door brought some excitement to the dull air of the lab.

"Freeze! King's Special Army! Drops what you are holding and put your hands in the air!" The soldier yelled out, his gun raised and his squad pouring in like water from a broken dam.

One of the scientists was trying to flee from a soldier and tripped. The soldier ran up to him and brought out a pair of handcuffs, but before the soldier could do anything, he saw the reflection in the scientist's eye and the wide-eyed look of fear smeared across his face. The soldier turned around to meet a bulking figure wearing a black and orange skull cap, which rested just above his almost insect-like face. The hulking figure wore an orange jacket with a black stripe running down the middle and the sleeves ripped off. On it's left should was a spiked armband around it's blue skin and orange sleeves on it's forearms with black wrist guards. The jacket went down to it's mid-thigh and was ripped at that point. It's orange pants were stained red with blood as the blood ran down it's leg onto it's gigantic leg guards and then onto it's blue, dinosaur-like feet. It's cold, red eyes stared into the soldier's, paralyzing him with fear of this freak of nature standing before him. The creature then lifted one of it's huge arms and smashed the soldier into the ground.

The soldiers all then began to unload clip after clip into the beast, but each bullet bounced off the beast with no effect. The combination of smoke from the bullets and the smoke from the scientific chemicals began to from a cloak of smog around the beast.

The soldiers held their fire and silence washed over the lab as everyone's attention was transfixed on the cloud of smoke and what was contained inside of it.

The smoke cleared and instead of finding the human-like creature, the saw a gigantic, beetle with it's wings extended and it's two bulking legs flowing with electricity.

The soldiers again opened fire, but like before, they had no effect as the creature pressed forward with ease, throwing soldiers left and right with it's claws. The creature plowed it's way through the scores of soldiers as it made it's way to the soldier in command.

The soldier stood looking into the cold and soulless eyes of the creature as it gave a wicked grin as it reverted back to it's humanoid form. Suddenly, the soldier fell to the ground and behind him stood behind him with a lead pipe.

Present Day

"Great. Big creature comes in and destroys everyone, big whoop. How does this tie in to you?" Let said, almost pleading Adam to get to the point of his story.

"Well, if you let me finish, we can get somewhere." Adam quickly remarked.

Five Years Ago

The soldier reawakened in a test tube with wires sticking out all over his body. The soldier began to become frantic and began squirming around to get out but despite his best efforts, the glass held up. Eventually, the soldier spent all his energy and began to drift back into a sleep.

The soldier again reawakened, but this time saw King Orion standing and having a conversation with the scientist in front of him. The creature lurked behind them, almost stalker-like in it's habits.

"So, he'll be ready by tomorrow?" The King asked the scientist, trying to hide his eagerness.

"Yes. But he'll be incredibly unstable because the Zoanthrope genomes will slowly destroy his body and there will be nothing left but a pile of dust." The scientist replied.

At this King Orion looked at the soldier and then left the room. As the scientist turned back to the test tube, he looked at the creature then shook his head and turned to the soldier.

"Kind of like Frankenstein, huh?" The scientist remarked.

The soldier struggled to reply, every word hurt his throat like a knife.

"Just…Just what is it?" The soldier stammered.

"It's an artificial Zoanthrope, much like you're about to become. He has to feed off of the blood of anything he sees to maintain his body."

As the scientist spoke, the creature behind him began to turn into dust as it deteriorated and the dust blew into the wind.

"Lost another good one." The scientist said, almost unfazed that his own creation had just been terminated in front of him, "I have to go check on something. Don't move, 'kay?" the scientist joked then laughed almost maniacally as he exited the room.

The soldier again began to squirm in the tank as another scientist entered the room and began to fiddle with the controls. The new scientist pushed a red button and the soldier felt an extreme jerk of electricity fill his body as the cells being injected into his bloodstream were destroying his old ones and replacing them. The soldier began to jerk in pain as the scientist turned the machine off and left the room as the soldier faded into unconsciousness.

The soldier awoke again and raised his hand as the liquid in the tank began to heat up, burning the soldier and the glass surrounding him. The scientist walked back in as the soldier's eyes faded to a pale white. The soldier raised his other hand and he glass exploded around him, sending shards everywhere. Flames danced around the body of the soldier as he walked towards the scientist and looked at the sniveling human, begging for forgiveness.

The soldier smiled a smile that would make the devil fear for his life and raised his hand. The scientist let out a scream, then all that could be heard was the burning of bones.

Present Day

Let stood shocked and silenced by Adam's story. After moments of silence, he was able to gather himself and continued walking.

"I'm assuming you were the soldier." Let stated, still in disbelief of Adam's power.

"Yeah. No duh, Sherlock." Adam sarcastically replied, "The funny thing is: I've never gone into my Zoanthrope form."

Let just shook his head and turned to Adam, "All in good time, kid."


	5. Chapter 4: Danger

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 4: Danger

Hidden Troubles and Things to Come

"Awkward silence. So aggravating."

Let stated in a monotone.

"Y'know, you saying that only makes it more awkward." Adam shot back. Adam had recently run away from the military after being experimented on, and yet, even with both his and Let's military experience, neither could sense the eyes that were surveying them behind a sand battered cloak.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you and I have nothing to talk about so I was just pointing out an awkward silence between the two of us." Let argued, though in his head he was criticizing how stupid he was to be arguing about awkward silences with an eighteen year old boy.

"Well, pointing them out just makes them more awkward is all I'm saying." Adam snapped back, keeping up with his mentor in a battle of wits.

"How about I just shut the both of you up so there's a permanent silence between the two of you?" A steely voice interrupted the two men. Let and Adam turned to find a man cloaked in a gray robe. Though neither one knew the man, somehow Let knew he had met him somewhere before.

"How about that's not gonna happen?" Adam replied, smirking at the opportunity to show his mentor that he wasn't dead weight.

The man laughed and as he chuckled his necklace came out from under the cloak, a skull, and instantly Let knew what he was up against.

"Let the big kids handle this one, Adam," Let said, almost condescendingly, but he knew what would happen if Adam tried to fight the man in front of him, "because I'm pretty sure you wanna see two Generals duke it out. You are still a general, right, Gale?"

"Ah, you've still got the eyes of a hawk, Let. So…still on the run, I see." Gale remarked.

"Yeah. It's tough hours, but the rewards are worth it." Let replied, joking with his old comrade. "Boy, the years have not been good to you have they?"

Gale laughed at the comment then ran his fingers through his graying hair then coldly stated, "Yeah, you could say that. Look, I like ya kid, but you're on the run, so I gotta bring you back dead or alive."

"Well, I won't make it easy." Let smirked then clenched his fists, "So. Let's do this. No more words. Just fists."

"Alright, you-"Gale was cut off by Let's fist hitting his face sending shockwaves through his body and sending him stumbling.

"You open your mouth again, I swear I'm gonna break it, Gale." Let said, his demeanor was now totally serious, no laughter, no sincerity, nothing. Let had completely thrown away the long hours Gale had spent training him and acted only on his instinct.

Gale regained his balance and looked at Let then licked his lips and spat the blood that was trickling down his chin to the sand and charged Let.

Let stepped forward to counter Gale's attack, but Gale had Let well-scouted and moved out of the way and kicked Let in the side of the head, sending him flying. Let made a quick recovery, but was met with Gale's fist hitting his face, knocking him to the ground as he tasted his own blood.

Gales stepped forward to capitalize on the opportunity, but Let sweeped his legs out from under him and knocked him to the ground. Let then mounted on top of Gale and began to throw hook after hook, nailing Gale in the head as Gale tried to cover up.

Gale then quickly threw Let off of him and got up and before Let could collect himself and get up he felt Gale kick him in the stomach so hard that it sent him into the air as Gale then caught Let on his shoulders and fell backwards, slamming Let to the ground. Gale then kipped up and turned around and looked at his former student writhing in pain on the ground.

"Let, I taught you everything you know. It's my unfair advantage. I'll always have the upper hand over you." Gale stepped forwards towards Let to pick him up and carry his body to the castle, but was sent flying backwards by a blue fireball.

"And I'm a Zoanthrope, that's _my_ unfair advantage, Gale. Just something that'll I'll always have." Let stated as he wobbly got up to his feet and staggered over to Gale.

"Is he- Is he dead?" Adam stammered, in shock at the battle he had just witnessed between two of the King's Army's most powerful fighters.

Let kneeled down and checked Gale's throat, "He alive, just unconsci-"

Let was cut off by Gale's hand reaching up and grabbing his throat. Gale stood up and lifted Let off the ground by the throat.

"You might be the better man today," Gale then lowered Let to the ground and dusted off his shoulders, "but the next time we meet, I'll be the one checking your pulse. Just remember that right there, I could've killed you."

"Yeah, I know." Let said as he massaged his neck, "Still as good as ever, old man."

"Hey, with age comes wisdom, Let." Gale smiled and turned you might wanna leave, knowing the dogs in the military they'll be here pretty soon.

"Yeah. Good point. Well, in that case, see ya next time…oh, and please don't go easy on me next time." Let smiled back at his teacher and turned back to Adam, "Let's move."

Adam and Let walked off as Gale stared off at the castle.

"He seems like a nice guy." Adam remarked, completely shocked by the events that had just transpired

"He is." Let replied, remembering the days of his own training, "That's why he's known as 'The Gentle Giant.'"

"So, what were you talking about when you said he trained you?' Adam inquired, not knowing what he was talking about, the thought of himself being able to do what the two Generals had just done

"He was my teacher, like I was yours." Let replied, his voice completely serious, "he was the first General to be appointed by the King, and the only person to ever Get Shuren to open up."

"Oh…wait, why were you appointed general at sixteen?" Adam asked, questions flying in and out of his ears.

"I dunno. I guess it was just that I was _that_ good. Or maybe it was my natural charm. Or perhaps it was the fact that I was a Zoanthrope and the army knew it was enhancing my fighting abilities at an unnatural rate." Let coldly replied, "Look, let's just drop it and focus on our main goal."

"Right. Destroying the labs and usurping the king." Adam confidently replied.

Let looked at Adam then back at the castle and sighed and stated with a sense of aggravation, "Sure."


	6. Chapter 5: Potential Unlocked

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning: **Mild violence

Chapter 5: Potential Unlocked

A New Chapter to a Life Begins

Let and Adam pressed on, through the freezing nights and through the blazing heat of the sun through the day. They rarely rested and Adam was having a hard time keeping up with his mentor.

"Can we-can we just take a breather for a second?" Adam panted, straining to get every word out of his parched throat.

Let stopped mid step and turned to Adam, "Fine, you can rest. Tomorrow your training begins." Let stated. Though his voice didn't sound menacing, his training did. Adam remembered the training program that Let had put him and his fellow soldiers through and hung his head in both aggravation and anguish at what was to come.

The next day came too early for Adam as he awakened by a swift kick to his gut.

"Let's go, the army won't stop for us to rest. Every morning bright and early, or I kick you harder every day." Let said, his eyes emotionless as he Adam got up to his feet, holding his gut.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" Adam asked, a combined tone of pain and anger.

"You have to be ready for anything," Let connected with a right to Adam's jaw, knocking Adam down and nearly out, "at anytime."

Adam got up and cursed under his breath as he stood to his feet, "So, that's my first lesson?"

Let smirked at Adam's question, "Yeah. Here's your second: Try to hit me Completely forget that I'm your teacher and come at me with full force."

Adam instantly charged Let and began to throw strike after strike at Let, but hit nothing but the air. Adam went for a straight right to Let's chest, but Let caught the fist and then threw Adam over his shoulder. As soon as Adam connected with the ground, and connected hard, he opened his eyes to see Let's fist just half an inch above his throat.

"You're too sudden. Good fighters always control the battles." Let said as he pulled Adam up to his feet, "You have to control the outcome, make your opponent make mistakes."

"Yeah, I've heard this one before, remember?" Adam replied. The next thing he knew he on the ground, his arm begin bent beyond all reason.

"Next lesson: If you talk back or slack off, I will give you such a horrible punishment that it'll kill you to move. Are we clear?" Let said, his voice full of aggravation and lacking any patience.

"Alright, alright. We're clear, we're clear!" Adam gasped, trying to force the words out of his mouth faster then he could.

Let released Adam's arms and waited for Adam to stand before walking away.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? Aren't I supposed to be getting some more training done before we leave?" Adam shouted, in a fit of not only desperation but confusion.

"The government dogs will be here soon. They recognize my scent. They'll have dogs and guns. Don't feel like dealing with that right now." Let responded, despite having just stated the things he loathed in life, he seemed unnaturally calm.

Adam quickly caught up with his mentor as the two continued to head to the castle. Adam's body was sore all over, but he wasn't willing to let his teacher see that. He wanted to Let see that he was seemingly bulletproof.

The next day started the same day, Let kicked Adam in the gut a lot harder then the day before and Adam coughed as he got up to his feet.

Let's training was the same each day, with Adam improving a steady pace: Spar him then practice some fighting maneuvers then takes some punishment.

After a week of this incredibly hardcore training, Adam was ready to collapse. But Let had one final lesson planned for him.

"You're going to transform into your Zoanthrope form." Let said, nearly knocking Adam off his feet with this statement.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Adam replied, almost left speechless by his mentor's request.

"You heard me, now get up and get your ass ready." Let said, little patience left in his battle-tired body.

Adam got up from his stomach, now missing it's usually bruise from Let's morning ritual of kicking Adam in the stomach.

"Now," Let stated preparing Adam for what he was about to endure with a almost prepared speech, "turning into a Zoanthrope is not about channeling power into yourself from an outside source, it's about two things. One: emotions. If you're like me that emotion you feel so strongly that it'll take you over is anger. Two: associating that feeling with an image. The day you were altered, associate the most glaring memory from that day that made you angry."

"Alright." Adam said, closing his eyes and remember that day.

Let waited a couple of seconds before continuing, "What memory did you choose?"

"The King delighted at my suffering." Adam replied, almost scowling from just the words that he had said.

"Good. Good. Now, I want you to take that anger and turn it into a source of energy. Channel that energy into your core. Have you done that?"

After a couple of seconds, Adam nodded to Let.

"Good. Now, release that energy in a single blast but instead of focusing it towards an external object, focus it on yourself. Also, instead of associating this energy you're about to release, associate it with what your Zoanthrope is associated with, and from what I gathered from your story, that would be fire."

Adam continued to channel his energy as thoughts of fire flashed through his mind. Suddenly, a bright flash occurred and where Adam stood was now not a human, but a being of near-unlimited power.

Before Let stood a golden griffin, its blue wings fully extended. Adam's muscles bulged out of his skin, nearly busting through his skin. His normal face had been replaced with that of a bird, eyes burning red like the flames that engulfed his hands. Adam's wings not only covered his back but spikes protruded from his shoulders and wings were attached to them, flowing over his shoulders and straight out, forming an armor of wings. This same type of wing was fastened to both sides of his hip, but without the spikes. Wings stuck out from where Adam's ears were and the sun reflected off of his razor-sharp talons, on both his hands and feet.

Let smiled, realizing that he was in the presence of a Zoanthrope with almost as much power as he had.

"So, this work for you, or do you want to have another sparring match?" Adam said, a devilish grin crossing his face as his tail, made entirely out of flames swayed back and forth.

"No. No. You're finished with your training. You've learned all you need to know from me." Let said, satisfied entirely with the results he had gotten from Adam.

"Well, I'll have to wait until later until I can use this newfound power, huh?" Adam said, disappointed that he wouldn't be able to find out the potential he possessed.

"Actually you won't, kid." A steely voiced interrupted the two and when they both turned they saw a man from let's past, and Adam's future.

All Adam could mutter was, "Who the hell are you?"

"You wanna settle our score, Let, or are you gonna let me kill the kid?" The man responded, ignoring Adam completely.

"Still as tunnel-minded as ever." Let replied, "I'll let Adam handle this one. He seems he can handle you and then some, Taylor."

Let stepped back as Adam's fists lit up with burning red flames and Taylor clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.


	7. Chapter 6: Resurface

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 6: Resurface

A Grudge Revived and a Rivalry Continued

"So, kid, you just gonna stand there or are we gonna throw fists?" Taylor said, breaking the silence. Taylor's fists clenched tighter, as blood began to drip down his palms. The knives in Taylor's black combat boots glinted the reflection of the sun towards Adam, who stood, unfazed as fires burned around his fists. Taylor tightened the red bandana around his forehead as his blue eyes shined with an almost malicious edge to them. Taylor ran a finger through his blonde hair as he waited for Adam to say something, anything.

The wind blew against Adam's back and shook Taylor's black pants and his white, blood stained t shirt, covered by a black Kevlar vest with a viper on the back.

Let looked from Adam, his student, and the man who had been one of the greatest influences on him, Taylor, ready to fight.

Taylor returned the look to Let and smiled demonically, "He doesn't say much, do-"

Taylor was interrupted by a fist lit a flame hitting his cheek and burning his skin.

"You know, if you're gonna fight, at least pay attention." Adam replied smugly as waited for Taylor to get up before floating into the air and then after a couple of seconds, dive-bombing at an incredible speed towards Taylor.

Taylor was a mercenary, and as such, his reaction time was heightened to above average levels. Taylor was able to side step Adam and grabbed onto his legs and began to spin around before releasing Adam and sending him skyrocketing towards Let. Let caught his student and set him on the ground then refocused on Taylor.

"You're not holding back, are you?" Let inquired, talking as if he and Taylor had been childhood friends.

"If you don't go full on, what's the point?" Taylor replied and waited for Adam to get up before continuing his assault.

A flurry of fists awaited Adam when he finally got back to his feet. Despite his best efforts and the incredible abilities his beast form gave him, Adam was still too slow for Taylor and Taylor connected with a right hook that sent Adam flying.

Adam recovered and took to the air once again, but instead of dive bombing for Taylor, he sent a ball of fire in front of his adversary. Taylor reacted quick enough to jump back, but Adam flew through the smoke created by the ball of fire and drove his claws into Taylor as then shoved Taylor to the ground and began to channel fire to his hand that grasped Taylor's stomach with a grip as tight as a vice. Adam then lifted Taylor as more and more flames began to flow towards his hand as the incredible heat began to burn through Taylor's shirt and began to scorch his skin.

Adam then smiled at Taylor, "This is a little something I just invented. I like to call it the Griffin's Feather Blast."

When Adam finished his sentence, he sent a huge beam of fire from his hand, sending Taylor flying, but the flame traveled faster than Taylor and it engulfed him as he continued to fly backwards.

When the flame ceased flowing, Adam turned to his teacher with a stern face and then smiled, "So, how was that?" He inquired, looking for approval from his teacher.

"That is what we call a Beast Drive. It's something that you can perform when you have total control over your Zoanthrope form. Usually they take a huge amount of energy and I'm surprised that you haven't reverted back to your human form." Let replied, no signs of happiness or emotions being shown on his face.

"Thanks for the lesson there, Einstein." Adam sarcastically remarked.

Let moved his foot forward and lowered himself into his fighting stance, "You remember one of my rules? Y'know, the one about the back talk?"

"Yeah." Adam replied, his voice shaking a little as he wasn't sure what to expect from his teacher.

Let made a sudden movement towards Adam, and Adam tried to turn and run in fear, but tripped over his own feet and fell face first to the ground.

Let smiled as he shook his head and stood upright, "You also might wanna focus on your opponent. Seems he's gotten tougher then I thought."

Adam got up and spat out the sand that was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. At the same time, Taylor began to shakily get to his feet and smiled menacingly at Adam, blood running down his burned skin as blood ran out of his stomach and onto his pants then began to create a puddle underneath his feet.

"How are you still alive?" Adam said, still in shock over this revival of sorts of Taylor.

"Because, pipsqueak, it wasn't my time to go." Taylor replied as he coughed out more blood,

"That was a nice move there. Shame you won't be able to use it again." Taylor withdrew the knives from his boots and charged Adam with incredible speed for a man who just seemingly come back from the dead.

Adam began to feel the knives stab through his skin as he tried to defend himself, "How are you doing this?! How are you not dead?!"

Taylor smiled, feeling intense sensations of pain with every move, "Because, I've been fighting so long that even though it hurts and I couldn't move under normal circumstances, the muscle memory I have remembers every thins I do and that's what I'm running on."

Adam felt a knife penetrate the skin in front of his stomach.

"Game over, kid." Taylor said, his steely voice almost becoming haunting.

"Not really." Adam said, his voice was that of someone else, a man possessed.

"What the-" Taylor was cut off by the explosion that emerged from beneath Adam's feet, sending him flying and creating an intense heat and wind that Let had to use his jacket as a shield to keep his eyes from melting and being covered in sand.

[i]Oh, crap. What did I just unleash? This isn't Adam fighting, this someone-some_thing_ else. This could mean trouble for everyone and everything that Adam comes into contact.[/i] Let thought, barely audible over the raging flames dancing around Adam.

"Come on, mortal. Get up! Fight me!" Adam demanded, his voice was that of something straight of a nightmare.

Taylor began to wobbly get up to his feet as he grabbed his still bleeding stomach, "You picked a good one this time, Let. Didn't think I'd have to do this…"

Taylor hunched over in pain as bursts of wind began to circulate from where he knelt as he channeled his own energy.

A bright flash ensued and when the light was gone, Taylor had shown his true Zoanthrope form. His fingernails had grown to three times their length and had become claws. Taylor's shirt was ripped and the only part attached was the strands wrapped around his shoulders. His bandana had turned into two red horns that protruded upwards from his forehead. His pants had been ripped as had the boots, exposing his giant paws. The knives that had been in those boots had melded into Taylor's skin and formed spikes on the backs of his heels that extruded from Taylor's blue fur. The Kevlar vest was all but gone with the only trace being the viper insignia burned into Taylor's already scorched back.

Taylor stood in front of Adam, both men in their beast forms. The Griffin and The Tiger, the never-ending battle of Chinese Mythology.

Taylor's tail waved back and forth anxiously as Adam ignited the flames surrounding his flames even higher and Taylor let out a primal scream and both men charged the other…


	8. Chapter 7: Intertwined Fates

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 7: Intertwined Fates

A Fight Finished and A Destiny Determined

Taylor, the Demon Tiger was able to gain the upper hand over Adam, the Griffin. Taylor had recently challenged Let to a fight, but Adam, over cocky of the new power he had gained in his beast form accepted for him. Now, Adam had pushed Taylor to the limit and he had responded by transforming into a beast of legends.

Taylor hammered a fist into Adam's cheek, but Adam recovered quickly and returned with a kick to Taylor's stomach, doubling him over. Each attack creating earthquakes from the force and the impact contained in that one, single strike. Adam went to shove his claws into Taylor's stomach, but Taylor had learned from the last time and grabbed Adam's talons and threw him over his head and onto the ground.

Taylor then stomped on Adam's stomach and lifted him up by the throat as Taylor's eyes burned red. Taylor then let out a roar as the energy being expended in the fight began to deform their surroundings. Let stood calmly as the two beasts destroyed each other slowly. Taylor then shoved his fangs into Adam's throat and began to fling him from side to side before finally throwing him to the ground. Taylor then stalked Adam, who was trying to crawl away as his throat bleed like a waterfall.

Taylor then began to channel energy into his claws as he kicked Adam in the gut, turning him onto his stomach. Taylor stomped into Adam's stomach and lifted his foot, with Adam almost wrapped around it. Taylor then flung Adam into the air and slashed the air between them with his right claw, creating three blades of red energy then cut through Adam and sent him farther into the air. Taylor then slashed the air with his left, creating another three blades of energy. Taylor then channeled more energy into his claws and slashed with both hands, creating an large, red, X-shaped wave of energy then sent Adam soaring into the air and crashing down with such force that it created a mile wide crater.

"You're not the only with a Beast Drive, kid." Taylor said, panting. Even though he was a physical incarnation of power, he had been taken to the limit by this young kid.

"That-that was pretty good." Adam said, his voice almost gone as his throat continued to bleed.

"So, still alive, I see." Taylor said, almost glad that there was still some fight left in his 'victim'.

"As you said, Taylor, 'It wasn't my time'." Adam said, almost mocking Taylor, but yet, it was a seemingly respectful manner.

Taylor grunted at Adam's remark and his body began to fade and Adam looked around confused. He had seen many things in his life, but this was a new one for him.

Taylor reappeared behind Adam and knocked him to the ground and pinned him there. Taylor raised a claw, ready to end Adam's existence, and then shoved it towards Adam.

Let grabbed Taylor's arm and stopped him mid-attack, "That's enough, Taylor. You beat him to a bloody pulp, now let him be."

Taylor took his foot off of Adam and stepped back, away from Adam and Let, who was now tending to his wounds.

"You did quite the number on him, though." Let continued as he looked at the result of the battle, "When did you learn that Beast Drive?" Let inquired, almost eagerly.

Taylor smiled as he began to revert to his human form, his horns beginning to retract into his head as the spikes on the back of his shins did the same, "After becoming a mercenary and dealing with as many pathetic wimps as I have to on a daily basis, I got tired of bringing them back alive, so I thought up a move that would kill them instantly and tried it out on a merchant who tried to (exploit) with me and it worked, so I've used it ever since if I get fed up with trying to bring the perp in alive."

Let smiled at Taylor's last remark then put his hand on Adam's throat, "We might need to make a campfire. Go find some wood and give me some of your shirt. We need to stop the bleeding and the fire should help us keep warm while we wait for him to recover."

Five Hours Later

Adam awoke to the tempting smell of roasted pig. As he tried to sit up, he felt a stinging pain go through his entire body. When he looked beyond the fire and saw Let and Taylor conversing, he tried not to make a noise, but the two battle-tested veterans sensed him watching them.

"You're up finally." Let said, a genuine smile crossing his face, "Thought you were dead."

"Yeah, I thought I was dead, too." Adam said as he grabbed the cup that Let offered him. His gaze then averted to Taylor, who continued to converse with Let, though now in signs instead of words.

"So, I'm confused." Adam stated, a hint of aggravation underlying his voice "First, you try to kill me, and nearly succeeded, then you help me recover and you're sitting here talking to us as if nothing happened?"

"That pretty much sums it up." Taylor replied, "Though, you should consider yourself lucky. You're the first of Let's student's that has ever taken me that far in a fight."

"Oh, lucky me." Adam sarcastically replied as he took a sip from the cup then quickly spat it out," What the hell is that crap?"

"Blood. You're an artificial Zoanthrope, remember? You need it to survive and not turn into a pile of dust. You should know all of this already." Let said, triggering the memory of the King's Labs in Adam's head, "You better get used to this taste."

Adam forced down the next sip of blood, then looked up at Taylor , "Where did you get this from? Did you kill someone?"

"Not really, kid. It's actually the blood [i]you[/i] shed from [i]my[/i] stomach." Taylor replied, chuckling a little as a shot of pain went through his stomach.

"Oh. Alright." Adam felt somewhat guilty about it, but he didn't mind making Taylor bleed. Adam thought about all of the blood that he had seen shed throughout his lifetime as he took another drink, then glanced at Taylor, then looked at Let, "So, how do you two know each other?"

"Long story" The two replied as quickly as they could, almost as if they were trying to avoid the subject all together.

"Wait, you did say he was an A.Z., right?" Taylor asked Let, recalling the words that Let had stated just a few minutes ago.

"Yeah. What of it?" Let replied, unsure of what Taylor's unpredictable attitude would make him do next.

"That means that the experiments are going on in the castle, right?" Taylor asked.

"Well, they're not actually in the castle, but they are on castle grounds." Adam chimed in.

"Not talking to you, kid." Taylor said with a monotonous tone to his voice, "Though that info is pretty helpful."

"Like I was trying to help you, Merc." Adam muttered under his breath.

Taylor looked at Let, who nodded slightly. Taylor then quickly slapped Adam on the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Adam asked, angered by Taylor's unprovoked swat.

"You're being a brat, that's what." Taylor replied, somewhat matter-of-factly, "Also, it's because I'm your superior in this little tea party to expose the experiments to the public."

"So that means you _are_ coming with us?" Let inquired.

"Yeah…though it means I just got myself into a whole hell of a lotta trouble." Taylor replied, somewhat solemnly.

Adam chuckled at Taylor's response. Taylor and Let nodded to each other then simultaneously slapped Adam in the back of the head. Let then began to chuckle as Adam grabbed the back of his head.

"I'll take first watch." Taylor said amidst his laughter, "Let and I will take turns since you're in no condition to keep sentry position, kid."

"Whatever." Adam said as he laid down, the back of his head still hurting from the tandem slap. The last thing Adam remembered thinking about before drifting off to sleep was the memory of his parents.


	9. Chapter 8: Another Side

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence and sexual material

Chapter 8: Another Side

Life Through the Eyes of an Enemy

The man woke up in a cold sweat. It was the same nightmare. The one he'd been having for years now. Every night, he would have a peaceful dream where he was at home with his family, then, out of nowhere, every burst into flames and in the middle of it all stood a Zoanthrope. The Zoanthrope clawed and tore at his wife as she screamed, but the man could do nothing.

If only it had been a nightmare and not a reality.

The sequence that repeated in his head happened four years ago, and it had been repeating in his head ever since.

The man looked to the woman still sleeping in his bed. She was the epitome of beauty, her silky blonde hair slowing down to her mid-back. Her blue eyes were the same color as the sky and her form was nothing less than perfect. She was truly the meaning of the word 'beauty' to any man, but to the man who sat awake next to her, she was just another thing to keep himself distracted from his life of loneliness.

The man got up and went to get on his clothes, the scent of the woman's perfume still poignant on his body, and while he was dressing, the woman woke and was able to make out the figure of the man getting dressed despite the dull light from the rising sun. His blonde, buzzed hair still visible, despite the poor seeing conditions.

"Frank? Where are you going?" Even the woman's voice was perfect. To the normal man, she was a goddess and the man would jump at the opportunity to be able to say that she was his girlfriend, but Frank already had a full plate and couldn't even begin to handle being in a committed relationship.

"Uh…I-" Frank was cut off by the sound of his cell phone ringing in his back pocket. It was almost perfect timing. Frank looked at the text message and grimaced, then looked back at the woman, "I have to go to work. The King is sending my platoon on a search and destroy mission to eliminate any resilient Zoathropes and bring the ones that comply back to the castle."

"Oh. Alright." The woman's voice was filled with disappointment. She thought she had finally found a man who she could have a suitable relationship with, but it seemed that he was the same as any other man.

"Look, Jessica, you're a great person, and I know you're going to make some man very happy someday. But I don't think that with my job, we could have a committed relationship." Frank said, trying to be as sincere as possible as he buttoned the top button his shirt. He got up and quickly put on his jeans and fumbled in his pocket to see if his wedding ring was still in the back pocket. He didn't wear it, but he liked to have it with him at all times so he wouldn't forget his wife.

Jessica looked out the window at the rising sun as Frank left the room. She was used to this kind of heartbreak, but every time, it still hurt on the inside.

Frank walked into the Anti-Zoanthrope Unit and looked around at the men running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

"Parrett." The booming voice broke into Frank's thoughts as Frank nearly jumped. When Frank turned around, he stood face to face with his good friend. To the masses he was known as the Wolverine, but to Frank, he was known as Lance.

Lance was a hulking man with jet black hair and blue eyes. He had cuts ad scars all over his body from the years of service to the AZU. Lance and Frank were both Sergeants in the AZU, but Frank was less violent, according to his reputation, as Lance had a tendency to blow a fuse easily.

Both Lance and Frank had been called in because there had been rumors that a small group of renegade Zoanthropes were coming to find out if the experiments were just rumors and they were willing to do what's necessary to obtain their goals.

Parrett and Lance had their usual conversations while they adorned their camouflage armor. Even though the new Kingdom was advanced decades beyond normal society, the government still insisted on using the same type of armor used by the outside world.

"You hear what's been happening recently? Three Zoanthropes have running rough shot through the kingdom, goin' crazy, takin' everything out." Lance bluntly stated, adding his trademark smirk to the end of his web of rumors.

"That's it? That's all Orion's told us?" Frank answered, doubtful of his king actually telling the whole truth. Despite being in the military, he had his doubts and accusations of his own government.

"Aren't we in a bad mood." Lance fired back. Lance had a tendency to be incredibly facetious, and it showed.

"Look, Orion has a tendency to not tell the whole truth, alright? I just wanna know what the higher ups know." Frank said disdainfully.

"Well, it's been rumored that two of them are former military personel, and the third is supposedly some sort of Demon-thing."

Instantly, Frank's mind flashed back to the day that his wife was slaughtered and the figure of a tiger standing in the flames.

"You alright there, Frankie?" Lance asked. Concern and impatience formed the figure of Lance's face.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." Frank was lying through his teeth. It was something he had tried not to do, but sometimes, he had to.

"Good. This army needs that brain of yours." Lance chuckled, patted Frank on the back, put his helmet on, grabbed his gun and left Frank to his own revelry.

[u]Hours Later[/u]

Frank and Lance hopped out of the humvee that their platoon was traveling in and set up camp. The men began to tell war stories, either of actual war or sexual conquests. Each man knew his limits, but they knew what Frank had been doing the last couple of days and each one wanted to hear the story, but Frank was too distracted by revenge and the memories of his wife.

"Frank. Snap the Hell out of it." Lance's booming voice again broke into Frank's mind as he looked around the campfire at the men. They could hide it well, but each of them was eager to hear of Frank's 'fling' with what each of the men considered a goddess.

"What? What happened?" Frank quickly stated, not in the least bit aware of what had been happening.

"You're turn. We're all a little bit anxious to hear about how She is in the sack." Lance replied, his smile was like a child who had just learned how to say a dirty word.

"Well, it w-" Frank was cut off by the sound of voices in the distance.

"Look, I don't care what you think, these test subjects are being forcibly tested upon." The first man's voiced seemed young, but aged at the same time.

"I'm pretty sure that they aren't." The second man to speak had a much more hardened voice. The voice seemed familiar in frank's mind.

"Look, the young 'un here was a test subject. He can be the swing vote." The first man replied.

"Well, yeah, they are being forcibly tested on-" The third man stated, but was cut off by the first man.

"What did I tell ya." The first man's voiced was stuffed with confidence in his victory of the debate.

"Well, if you would let me finish, Let, I would've said that some of the subjects are volunteers from the army." The third man quickly stated.

"Well, how do you like them apples." The second man said. His voice was now full of confidence as well.

"Oh, please, the majority is forced testing." The first man replied. Frank had interpreted as a stubborn man with an undeterred drive.

"Look, I was the one in the labs, I wou-" The third man was cut off by Lance's voice booming out in the darkness.

"Halt! All three of you! Stop where you are!" Lance stood and aimed his gun at the three Zoanthropes as the rest of the platoon did the same.

"Oh, goodie. More toys for me to break." The first man said, an underlying tone of sadism was evident in his voice.

Lance lowered his gun as he realized who the man who has just spoken was, "Actually, this might've been more then I can chew, ain't that right, sir?"

Frank looked around, expecting to see someone of a higher rank then Lance, but saw no one but the platoon and had no idea who Lance was talking to.

"Look, kid, I don't have time for your games. I'm not a part of the military, and I'd rather not be associated with you mindless dogs." The first man replied, little patience was left in him and it sounded as if he was ready to take out the entire platoon if one more remark was made.

"Actually, I think I'll spear head this one." The second one chimed in, much to the shock of the first man. There was very little light, but the emotion was assumed by everyone.

The eyes of the second man were shining a blood red light as he looked at the soldiers. The instant the eyes of the Zoanthrope and Frank hit, he knew exactly who he was dealing with.

"I think we can settle this in a civilized manner, boys. Now, what is it that you want of us?" The second man replied, his voice leveled despite the scores of soldiers aiming for his head.

"I want you to give me my wife back." Was all that Frank said before he fired an entire clip at the Zoanthrope.

After the bursts of the bullets from the barrel of Frank's M-92 had echoed one last time in the night, Lance ordered the spotlight on the back of the humvee to be turned on and pointed at the men.

What the soldiers saw shook them to the core.

The man who had been the target of Frank's unrelenting assault was riddled with bullet holes, but there was no blood. Frank confirmed that this was the man who had killed his wife and began to reload as fast as he could to end the Zoanthrope's life and avenge his family.

Before Frank could even begin to reload, though, he felt a hand grip his throat with the strength of a vice as the arm lifted Frank into the air, "So, this is gonna be about your wife and kids, huh?" The man chuckled as he threw Frank to the ground. Lance ordered the men to stand back, but the spotlight turned to the man as he began to pull the bullets out of his body, one by one, seemingly unharmed by the assault.

"Now, if you want true vengeance, you should at least try to kill me while I'm in my Zoanthrope form." The man began to channel a huge amount of energy as the light flickered and eventually went out.

While the men were trying to fix the light, a pair of blood-red eyes shone in the darkness and were staring directly at Frank…


	10. Chapter 9: Unwanted Return

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 9: Unwanted Return

Scratched Surfaces and Minor Truths Discovered

Taylor held the soldier up by the throat, no intention of letting go. The idea hadn't even crossed his mind. That is, until he had thought up something even more cruel. The soldier's intents were to kill Taylor in retaliation for Taylor killing the soldier's wife and kids. Taylor threw the soldier to the ground and grinned maniacally as he began to transform into his beast form, taking out the spotlight on the back of the platoon's spotlight. Through the darkness, Taylor's now blood red eyes shone through the darkness as he stared at the soldier with malicious intent…

A Few Hours Earlier

Let, Taylor and Adam continued heading towards the castle. The three of them were getting tired and were in desperate need of a roof over their heads. Tempers were running hotter than the sun beating down upon the three Zoanthropes.

Taylor was the first to break the eerie silence, "So…are the experiments forced or are they volunteers?" It was the best he could think of to keep a conversation going.

Let looked at Taylor in disbelief and shook his head, "They're forced you idiot. Who would be stupid enough to volunteer for a life-threatening procedure?!"

"I dunno, maybe someone who was blindly loyal to Orion or the military." Taylor replied.

Adam sighed as he realized what he was in for: hours and hours of arguing.

The arguing continued for a few hours before Taylor decided to just drop the argument all together.

Adam looked from Let to Taylor and back again. He could only think of one question to break the silence, "So, how'd you two meet?"

Taylor and Let simultaneously silenced Adam with a quick slap to the back of the head. Adam flinched then cringed as he rubbed the back of his head. He still hadn't gotten used to the two dope slapping him.

Almost out of nowhere, Let was able to make a train of thought that connected how he and Taylor met to the original argument.

"Look, I don't care what you think; these test subjects are being forcibly tested upon." Let said, his voice was now almost aggressive.

"I'm pretty sure that they aren't." Taylor had become more aggressive in his argument, as well.

"Look, the young 'un here was a test subject. He can be the swing vote." Let replied.

"Well, yeah, they are being forcibly tested on-" Adam attempted to continue, but was cut off by Let.

"What did I tell ya." Let's voiced was stuffed with confidence in his victory of the debate.

"Well, if you would let me finish, Let, I would've said that some of the subjects are volunteers from the army." Adam quickly stated.

"Well, how do you like them apples?" Taylor said. His voice was now full of confidence as well.

"Oh, please, the majority is forced testing." Let replied. He was giving off the impression that he was a stubborn man with an undeterred drive.

"Look, I was the one in the labs, I wou-" Adam was cut off by the booming voice of a military official cutting through the darkness.

"Halt! All three of you! Stop where you are!" The voice was loud and prominent, seemingly that of a platoon leader.

"Oh, goodie. More toys for me to break." Let said, an underlying tone of sadism was evident in his voice.

"Actually, this might've been more then I can chew, ain't that right, sir?" The soldier's voice had become cocky for some unbeknownst reason.

"Look, kid, I don't have time for your games. I'm not a part of the military, and I'd rather not be associated with you mindless dogs." Let replied, little patience was left in him and it sounded as if he was ready to take out the entire platoon if one more remark was made.

"Actually, I think I'll spear head this one." Taylor chimed in, much to the shock of Let.

Taylor's eyes were shining a blood red light as he looked at the soldiers.

"I think we can settle this in a civilized manner, boys. Now, what is it that you want of us?" Taylor replied, his voice leveled despite the scores of soldiers aiming for his head.

"I want you to give me my wife back." Was all that was said before an entire clip was fired at Taylor.

After the bursts of the bullets from the barrel had echoed one last time in the night, the spotlight on the back of the humvee was ordered to be turned on and pointed at the men.

What the soldiers saw shook them to the core.

Taylor was riddled with bullet holes, but there was no blood and he still standing. The man who fired saw this and began to reload as fast as he could to end the Zoanthrope's life and avenge his family.

Before he could even begin to reload, though, he felt a hand grip his throat with the strength of a vice as Taylor lifted him into the air, "So, this is gonna be about your wife and kids, huh?" Taylor chuckled as he threw Frank to the ground. Lance ordered the men to stand back, but the spotlight turned to the man as he began to pull the bullets out of his body, one by one, seemingly unharmed by the assault.

"Now, if you want true vengeance, you should at least try to kill me while I'm in my Zoanthrope form." Taylor began to channel a huge amount of energy as the light flickered and eventually went out.

While the men were trying to fix the light, a pair of blood-red eyes shone in the darkness and were staring directly at the soldier.

Taylor had completely transformed into his Zoanthrope form and began to run through the soldiers, his vision being unaffected by the complete darkness surrounding them. He was throwing bodies left and right, clawing their throats and slashing their bodies to shreds. Whether he approached them or they chased him, he killed them swiftly and bloodily.

When Taylor finished, the soldiers had fixed the light and Taylor stood, covered in blood, towering over the soldier, who was aiming his gun at Taylor's head.

The soldier who had interrupted the conversation ordered another spotlight to be pointed at Let, and Let covered his eyes as the light beat down on him from the back of a humvee.

"How're you doing, General?" The soldier asked.

"Not too bad, and yourself?" Let replied, showing some civility in this situation. Adam knew that this was only the calm before the storm, though.

"I've had better days. Though, killing you is about to make my day much better." The soldier retorted. It was almost as if the two were in a verbal sparring match of sorts.

"Well, Lance, don't get your hopes up." Let smiled and lowered into a fighting stance as the soldiers that Taylor hadn't destroyed aimed their guns at Let and Adam.

Lance gave the order to fire and all of the soldiers began to open fire at once, but before any bullet could hit Let and wall of fire sprang up from the ground and incinerated the lead before it could reach its target.

Let wasn't the one responsible for the wall, and he looked at Adam in disbelief, "How'd you do that?" was all that he could stammer out of his mouth.

"I-I don't know." Was all Adam could reply, "But can you use flames when you're in your human form?"

"Yeah, but I have complete control over my Zoanthrope powers and form. You've just begun to transform. It doesn't add up." Let shook his head as Lance aimed a pistol at Let's head and fired. This time, though, Adam wasn't able to save him. Lance smiled confidently as the bullet entered Let's forehead and sent him to the ground.

Adam stared at Let's lifeless body with disbelief and then looked back at the smoking gun.

"Now, are you gonna come quietly, or am I gonna have to do that to you, as well?" Lance coldly stated. He had no remorse for Zoanthropes and it showed.

Adam felt a surge of anger so powerful that it made him begin to shudder. He channeled that energy unto himself and created a flash brighter than the sun. When the light faded and everything returned to darkness, Adam now stood in his Zoanthrope form. A tall and proud griffin stood before Lance. This action didn't go unnoticed by Taylor, who witnessed the killing of the leader of what he referred to as a 'little tea party.' Taylor then watched Adam transform into his Zoanthrope form. But this time was different; Adam had become even more powerful.

It was only when Adam spoke, that Taylor realized what had just happened, "Come on, mortal. Let me show you…eternal rest!"

Taylor refocused his attention on the soldier in front of him, who quickly shot at Taylor's forehead, but Taylor easily avoided the bullet, "Please, Frank. Let's settle this like men."

Adam, or whatever seemed to possess him, surrounded his hands with flame as the soldiers reloaded their guns.

Taylor grinned demonically as Frank clenched his knuckles.

Either Frank or Taylor wouldn't be leaving alive...


	11. Chapter 10: Defying the Law

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Intense violence and Gore

Chapter 10: Defying the Law

Unexpected Revelations and a New Chapter Begun

Frank and Taylor stared at one another. Taylor had been the only thing on Frank's mind since Taylor murdered Frank's entire family. Taylor smiled demonically as he stared down upon Frank. Frank was just a soldier and Taylor was one of the most powerful Zoanthropes in history.

Adam had just become possessed by his darker side after witnessing Let being killed by Lance. Adam's darker side had transformed into his Griffin form and he now was ready to kill Lance and the rest of his platoon in a fit of vengeance and fury.

The tension was palpable as both sides stared each other in the eye, knowing full well that only one side could leave alive.

Adam, or rather, his darker half, smiled at Lance as he began to channel energy unto himself once again, and then he became completely possessed by his dark half. Adam had no control over himself in the now Dark Griffin form. His golden feathers were now tinted gray and his white eyes were now shining golden and soulless in the dark.

Even Taylor, who had prided himself on being the most powerful Zoanthrope of this age, was nothing compared to this new incarnation of Adam's power. Nothing was even comparable to Adam's newfound strength.

Taylor refocused his attention on Frank, who tried to take Taylor by surprise by connecting with a right to Taylor's jaw, but Taylor's reaction time had been decreased greatly when in his Zoanthrope form, and he caught Frank's fist with his large fangs.

Frank howled in pain as Taylor began to fling him around and then let him go and threw him into the humvee that he had arrived in. Frank tasted the blood flowing down his face and under normal circumstances, he would have used it for motivation, it instead instilled fear in him. He came to the realization that Taylor was only toying with him and could have killed him before the fight had even begun.

Adam stepped forward and Lance immediately ordered for his platoon to open fire. Adam's hands moved quicker than the bullets fired from the guns, and when the soldier's firing ceased, Adam opened his talons and revealed that each and every bullet had been caught and was perfectly intact. One soldier became reckless and charged Adam, but before the soldier was able to take three steps, Adam was able to fire the bullets out of his hand even quicker than the guns the soldier carried and ripped through the soldier, tearing him to pieces and burning his internal body to a crisp. It was an excruciatingly painful way to die, and Adam was enjoying every second of the soldier's agony.

In the back of Taylor's head, he remembered what had happened between him and Frank, but what was his main concern at the moment was the measures he would have to take if he were to have to take Adam down.

While Taylor was caught up in his thoughts, Frank took the opportunity to grab his gun and hit Taylor in the stomach with the butt of it. Despite shattering the gun on impact with Taylor's skin, the force doubled Taylor over and gave Frank the chance to put on a pair of brass knuckles and connected with a right to Taylor's jaw.

Taylor was surprised by the force that Frank had been able to create with the use of the brass knuckles and the butt of his gun, but he knew that it was still nothing that he couldn't handle. When Frank again went to hit Taylor with the brass knuckles, Taylor caught Frank's hand and crushed it with ease, breaking every bone in Frank's hand, causing him to fall and writhe in agony on the ground. Taylor considered his options as to what he should do with his victim…

Adam on the other hand, was still toying with the soldiers, allowing them to fire their clips, followed by Adam firing the bullets back after catching them and focusing each one on an unlucky target. Every time, the soldiers opened fire, and every time, Adam fired the bullet right back at one of the soldiers. Adam didn't mind how long this process was taking, he was enjoying it. Every drop of blood that was spilled only seemed to make Adam happier and more intent on spilling more blood.

Adam eventually tired of the repetitious motions and deflected each and every bullet the shot at him on the next shot. Adam then charged in and disappeared before he even struck any of the soldiers. As the platoon looked around in confusion, Adam appeared behind one of the soldiers and drove his talons straight through the man's chest, spilling gallons of blood. Upon seeing this, Lance realized that this was true regression, nothing but survival mattered, and Adam was willing to do what he needed to achieve it.

Adam picked up a soldier that tried to sneak up on him by the throat and floated upward. Lance ordered a ceasefire, as he didn't want to kill his fellow soldier. Adam grinned as the soldier tried to yank Adam's hand off his throat, though it was a futile effort. Adam then began to channel a large amount of fire onto the hand that was grasping the soldier's throat. Adam gave one final statement before unleashing it.

"You're all dead."

Adam sent the fire into the soldier's body, overheating it and causing it to kill him and make it go limp as Adam then carelessly threw it to the ground. The sound of the soldier's neck snapping on impact echoed in the silence, causing Adam to become giddy with excitement. He turned and looked at the soldiers preparing to open fire on him once again and chuckled. Their weapons were useless against him, and even the soldiers knew it, yet they continued to attempt to take him down with the pathetic weapons.

Adam channeled even more fire into his hands and created a large ball in his right hand and transferred the flames from his left hand into the ball, causing it to double in size. Adam raised the ball above his head and was ready to incinerate each of the soldiers below him.

Taylor was still debating what to do with Frank. Either he could let him live, or he could kill him where he stood. Lost in thought, Taylor didn't notice Frank jumping into the humvee, turning the keys and driving straight for him. Taylor noticed at the last minute, but was too late do anything as the humvee laid him out flat on the ground. Taylor groggily got up, and Frank prepared for another run at Taylor, but Taylor was able to do something about it this time and grabbed the humvee, stopping it in its tracks. Taylor then gave Frank a salute and flipped the humvee over then stomped through the under carriage as he grabbed Frank, who was now a bloody pulp and ripped him out of the car seat, his body prone. Taylor smiled demonically as he bared his fangs. His feast was about to begin.

All the while, Adam was enjoying the soldiers frantically reloading their guns, but before they had the chance to do anything, he threw the ball at the platoon, incinerating all of the soldiers but Lance, who fell to his knees, covering his eyes and praying that Adam didn't kill him.

The smell of burning bones on the battlefield was overwhelming and it seemed as though Taylor and Adam would have to end one another or they would destroy the Earth.

Adam dug his talons through the sand as he approached Lance, who was now quivering with fear. Adam picked up a scorched skeleton and began to drink its blood; his own sustenance was on his mind now as he began to drink the blood of every corpse that was in his path. When he came to the soldier that he had overheated, he picked up the limp body and drove his talon through its stomach and licked the blood that had stayed on his talons. After cleaning his hands, he ripped apart the soldier's throat, splattering blood everywhere, and began to drink the blood that flowed out of this new wound. When the soldier was sucked dry, he turned his attention back to Lance.

Taylor was about to begin feasting upon Frank when a better idea struck him. He picked up Frank's limp body and began to spin around with such speed that he almost created a tornado. Taylor let go and Frank was sent hurtling towards the castle.

Adam hadn't notice Taylor's actions. In fact, he didn't even care for them. All he wanted was the taste of Lance's blood in his mouth. But the sustained power that his darker half gave him had taken a toll on his body and he began to stagger as smoke emitted from his body. When he reached Lance, he was back to his human form and completely drained of energy. Adam collapsed in front of Lance and Lance staggered to his feet and pulled out his pistol.

"Tough fight there, kid." Lance said, "Thought I was gonna die. Guess not."

Before Lance could pull the trigger a fist punched through the back of his neck and went straight through his neck, causing blood to splatter everywhere as Lance collapsed into a pool of his and his soldier's blood.

"You guessed wrong." A pair of gray eyes stared at Lance's now lifeless body as the man grinned.

Taylor looked over his shoulder at the sound of the man's voice and what he saw shocked him to no end…


	12. Chapter 11: Live and Let Die

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 11: Live and Let Die

Full Circles and Undeterred Focus

Lance fell to the ground, a gaping hole in his neck, and lay still in the puddle of his and his soldier's blood.

Taylor turned around from soaking in the pleasure of hurling Frank towards the castle and witnessed something unreal.

Adam began to come back into conscience and looked at eh body of Lance beside him. Realizing that he had to take the opportunity, he began to drink the blood that flowed from his neck to remain alive. When he got up, he stumbled a bit, but regained his balance and looked at the man who had saved him.

"You're not hallucinating, kid…I'm pretty sure that's what you're thinking." Let said, unfazed by the blood dripping off his hand.

"How did- You were- And you're-" Adam stammered as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Was it a dream? Had it not really happened? No. Adam was positive that he had seen Lance shoot Let in the forehead.

"Look, I'll tell you later." Let replied, knowing full well what Adam was trying to say.

"No. You're gonna tell us now." Taylor coldly replied as he began to revert back to his human form and approached Let.

"Really? You're gonna make me do this?" Let joked.

"Yeah…I am." Taylor showed no emotion as he looked into Let's gray eyes.

"Fine. Go get some firewood and I'll spill it." Let solemnly stated. He had tried to keep it a secret, but it was time that the truth came out.

"Don't need it." Taylor pulled a lighter out of his back pocket and grabbed a couple bodies then piled them up and lit them on fire, "The rest are the kid's next meals."

Let sat down as Adam began to fill up his cup with blood. Despite the disgust he felt for the action, he was getting used to the taste of human blood. He just wish he didn't need to.

"It all started when I was a kid…"

Twenty Years Ago

A young boy rounded the corner, playing with his new toy, not a care in the world. The boy was running around the house, completely forgetting that his mother would continually tell him not to. The boy's gray hair went down to the back of his neck and he was wearing light blue jeans and a gray t-shirt,

The boy's father sat in the next room, meditating. However, he was having trouble due to his son's playful nature.

"Son. Come here. Sit next to me. I want to tell you something." The boy's father asked. He was a tall man, his gray beard reaching the bottom of his neck. His dark blue robe that he wore in the mornings was stained with coffee. He tried to hide it, but his son had witnessed it happen during breakfast and laughed when he saw it on his father's robe. The boy's father smiled at his son then when he sat down, his expression changed, "Look, I understand you're excited about your new toy, but could please play outside. Your mother will kill us both if you break anything."

"Okay, daddy." The boy gleefully replied and with that, he rushed out the door. The boy's father went back to his meditation, but was quickly interrupted by the sound a glass shattering.

"Sorry, daddy!" Te boy yelled from the next room then ran out the door as fast as he could.

"I swear, that boy is gonna kill me. " The boy's father sighed and returned to his meditation.

Outside, the boy continued to play with his toy while his older brother walked home from school, "Hey, Haru! How was school today?" He shouted at his older brother.

"Eh, same old junk." Haru replied, "Is Dad inside?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason." Haru continued to walk by his younger brother and entered the house. The boy shrugged his shoulders and continued to play with his toy.

At dinner time, the entire family gathered around the table. It was hard for the boy since he had a large family and he was the youngest. His two brothers sat across from him and to his right, his sister on his left, his father and mother at the head of the table, their parents at the opposite end of the table, and the boy's uncles, aunts and cousins filled in the rest of the large table. The dinners could be loud, but jovial as family members exchanged their daily adventures. After dinner, the boy's mother would clean the dishes as everyone resumed their own daily chores. The boy went back outside and started playing with his toy again.

When it was time to go to bed, the boy ran inside and up into his bedroom that he shared with his siblings. His mother said goodnight and they responded in kind, then she would turn out the lights and go to her own bed.

The boy was awoken in the middle of the night to the smell of burning ash and flesh. His househad been set ablaze! How he'd slept through that, he didn't know, but he jumped up and ran through the flames, trying to save his own life. When he exited the fire, he saw a group of people, headed by a man and a woman with torches in one hand and blood on the other. It seems they were the ones responsible for the burning, but the boy wondered what the blood was from.

Then it all hit him like a baseball bat.

They had killed his entire family and burned the evidence. Let attacked the woman in a blind fury, beating on her leg as best he could for a young child.

The woman only smiled, her blue eyes shining in the darkness as the wind blew through her blond hair. Suddenly, the boy felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck then fell over and began to slip into unconsciousness. He couldn't move and had no option but to watch the mercenaries slip into the darkness as the man who had knocked the boy out and the woman who had distracted him conversed on what to do with the boy.

"Look, Austin, the kid is a liability. Kill him so there's absolutely _no _evidence." The woman said. She was a slender woman who looked to be in her early twenties. Despite the dress code that the other mercenaries followed, she had a purple jumpsuit like outfit that seemed to be flexible, yet made of a strong material.

"Well, I don't care, Ashley." Austin fired back, "He's just a kid. What can he do?"

The two argued back and forth. The boy's ears had gone numb and he felt his body was soon to do the same. Finally, Austin shook his head and walked back over to the boy and shot him in the back of the neck.

Present Day

"That…that's disturbing." Taylor said. Despite what Taylor had seen, the prospect of an innocent child being shot was sickening.

"Can I finish the story or no?" Let replied.

Twenty Years Ago

The boy's eyes opened and he looked around, expecting to see that what he had just witnessed was a dream and that everything was the way it should be. But all that the boy saw was the burnt remains of his family and his home under the night sky.

The boy got up and suddenly remembered the man who had shot him in the back of the neck. Had he missed? Did he simply hit the wrong spot? No. The boy was positive that it had punctured his spine and he felt the back of his neck and felt the bullet wound directly above his spine. Then how was it that he was alive?

The boy lost his train of thought as his eyes met with the sight of his family's bodies burnt to the bone. The boy began to weep as he rushed to the corpses to see if anyone was missing, but everyone had become a victim.

The boy got up and began to walk away from the burning shambles that used to be his home and headed towards wherever the winds took him.

Present Day

"So…I'm assuming the boy was you, right?" Adam inquired

"No duh, Sherlock." Let retorted, remembering the conversation he and Adam had when Adam told his own story to Let, "Thing is: I've been working out all of the reasons as to why I survived the bullet wound, and I've come to a conclusion. It explains everything, why my family shunned me, why the other children wouldn't play with me, was because I was different. I could live for an eternity and take any kind of damage I wanted and survive. It's a blessing…and a curse."

Both Adam and Taylor looked at Let in complete shock of what they had just heard. No one said anything as the wind kicked up more dust.

"Well…sucks to be the King, then, huh?" Adam joked. His humor was necessary but incredibly ill-timed.

Taylor looked at Adam then slapped him in the back of the head then looked at let and realized that Adam was right, for the three of the Zoanthropes sitting around the burning bodies were the three most powerful Zoanthropes in the history of man. Adam finished off his cup of blood then stood up and walked off.

"I'll take first shift as watchman." He said over his shoulder. Taylor gave a wave of acknowledgement and Adam continued to walk away.

Taylor was about to find a spot to sleep, but remembered something about Let's story that had been eating away at him.

"You said that the two who stayed behind were named Ashley and Austin, right?" He inquired.

"Yeah, why?" Let replied. He had absolutely no idea why Taylor would ask such a question, but he decided to let it play out.

"Because I know them…" Taylor replied.


	13. Chapter 12: Through Hell

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence

Chapter 12: Through Hell, Fire, and Brimstone

Abandonment and Determination

"So…you're saying that you know the people who killed my family, burnt my house to the ground, and tried to kill me?" Let inquired. There was no sense of humor in Let's eyes as his mind was consumed by vengeance.

"Yeah. I do." Taylor replied. He didn't know what to make of Let's sudden change in attitude.

"You gotta tell me this story…" Let leaned back on a log and waited.

"Fine." Taylor replied. As much as Let didn't want to tell the story of his childhood, Taylor didn't want to reveal his that much more.

Twenty Two Years Ago

A boy walked into the training grounds that a man had brought him to. The boy was about six years old and saw other children there, practicing martial arts. The boy had a birthmark on his chest that looked much like a scar that ran from the bottom of his neck to his waist. The boy had a red bandana wrapped around his left bicep, the last thing remaining from his family. The boy's blue eyes lit up with excitement as he knew he had other people to surround himself with. He wore a tattered blue shirt with holes and rips all over it.

The man walked in behind him. He was an elderly man in assumably his late fifties, maybe early sixties. He wore a yellow robe that went to his mid thigh and brown pants that were perfect for his style of martial arts. He was from a place where Muay Thai was the only way to make money or survive, and he had become proficient in the art. He adjusted his glasses and stroked his beard, realizing the talent of the boy he had just found. Suddenly, the man's eyes laid view on a mark on the boy's arm. It was a half circle divided into two pieces, but the mark was an animal. The animal's image was that of a tiger with horns protruding from its head. At once, the man knew that he had just undertaken a huge responsibility and would be training the boy differently than the other students.

The boy ran off towards one of the buildings on the temple grounds and the man went to chase after him, but decided to let the boy go. After laughing to himself a little, he felt a tug on his leg and looked down to see another of his students, Austin Stopher.

Austin was a year younger than the new arrival and was left on the old man's stoop two years ago. He had black hair and hazel green eyes, but something else was very mysterious about him. He was only five, yet he was at the same skill level as many of the man's upper students.

"Ah, Austin. What is it you need?" The man said. He was a caring man with good intentions and a calming voice.

"Um, Master Jaa, um, who's the new boy? He looks kinda funny." Austin said. He didn't talk much, and had a tendency to say things without realizing the implications.

"Well, Austin, he isn't funny looking. What if he were to say that [i]you[/i] were funny looking? And please, call me Senjii." Master Jaa smiled at Austin.

"Well, I would laugh because I look normal." Austin jovially replied.

"Well, normality is in the eye of the beholder. Imagine how upset that boy would be if he overheard you say that." Master Jaa retorted. He was slowly working on Austin's tendency to say the wrong things.

Austin couldn't think of anything to say in response, but opened his mouth a few times, then closed it finally. Senjii smiled at Austin, "Now, go play with the other children and work on your elbow strikes, they're looking a bit slow today."

Austin gave a quick bow, and then ran back to training area. Master Jaa sighed and walked into his dwelling area, situated just outside the training area and saw his wife playing with another child who was going to be one of his students one day. It was girl, Ashley Hurd. Ashley was two years old with blonde hair and blue eyes. She had learned how to talk three months ago and learned how to walk a year ago.

Present

Let's blood was boiling as he realized that not only did Taylor know the people who destroyed his life, but he had befriended them. Still, he was eager to hear what happened, "So, you were the new kid, huh?"

"Like master, like student." Taylor nonchalantly replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Let shot back.

"You used that line on Adam yesterday, and from the look you had in your eyes when you said it, he said the line to you." Taylor replied.

"Whatever." Let looked away, realizing that Taylor was right, "Just get on with the story."

"Well, well. Aren't we eager?" Taylor sarcastically remarked, "But I'll skip ahead about twelve years, to when things get interesting."

Ten Years Ago

Master Jaa sat awake in his study, practicing his fighting style. He didn't know why, but he couldn't sleep. The sound of his strikes cracked in the air. Master Jaa looked to the door and saw Taylor standing in the doorway in a pair of jeans. He still had the bandanna on his arm.

"Taylor. Why are you still awake? You should be sleeping. It's going to be a big day tomorrow." Master Jaa said, surprised by Taylor still being awake.

"I can't sleep. I had this question and I couldn't answer it, so I came to see you." Taylor replied.

Master Jaa stopped his practicing and approached Taylor, then knelt in front of him, coming down to the boy's level, "What would that question be?"

"I wanted to know why the other kids treat me differently." Taylor asked.

Master Jaa tried to think of a way to answer, but nothing other than the truth came to his mind. He debated telling Taylor the truth, but decided against it, "Well, I think it's because they haven't gotten used to having a new kid here yet. They'll stop treating you differently soon enough."

"But it's been ten years since I got here, Senjii." Taylor said.

"Well," Master Jaa took a quick moment to think. He had to choose his words wisely in this situation, "change can sometimes take a long time."

"Alright, Master Jaa." Taylor dismally replied

Taylor walked out of the room and exited the building and saw Austin sitting on the roof. Taylor quickly scaled the walls and sat next to his friend, "What's up, bro?"

Austin shrugged as he looked at the starry sky above them, "Not much. Can't sleep."

"Same." Taylor replied.

Before either of them could reply, they heard the smashing of glass from inside the building. The two boys got down from the roof and ran to Master Jaa's room to find him fighting three hooded assailants. Judging from the looks in their eyes, Taylor judged that they were just barely older than he was.

"Master Jaa!" Taylor cried out.

"Taylor!? I thought I told you to go to sleep!" Master Jaa replied

One of the assailants took the opportunity to attack Master Jaa, but his years of fighting had heightened his senses and he performed a back flip, avoiding the punch and kicking the attacker in the chin. The other two men charged Master Jaa at once, but master Jaa was able to fend both of them off at once, blocking and dodging each attack.

The two were able to keep Master Jaa busy enough for the third to clear the cobwebs and grab a gun out of his back pocket. Taylor and Austin charged the attacker, but he was able to knock them both back with the butt of the pistol. Taylor landed on Austin's legs and a crunching sound echoed in Austin's mind, followed by a raging sense of pain. Austin clutched at his leg, feeling that it was broken. Taylor's head smashed against the ground and gave him severe whiplash, preventing him from getting up to interfere in the attackers' business.

A shot rang out that echoed through the entire temple.

Taylor and Austin watched as Master Jaa, who had become like a father to both of them, hit the floor. Austin pulled himself over to Master Jaa's body, but Jaa had already taken his last breath, and Austin began to tear up. Taylor's anger began to surge inside of him as he watched the three attackers escape. Austin went to tell Taylor that he needed to go wake the other students, but he found himself talking to no one.

Ashley stumbled into the room. She had been woken by the sound of the gunshot and when she saw Austin's leg and Master Jaa's body, she ran over to them, "What happened? Where's Taylor? We can't find him anywhere!" She was very unsuccessful at hiding her emotions.

"It's a long story. As for Taylor, I don't know. I assume he went after the men that did this." Austin replied, still grimacing in pain from the broken leg.

Ashley helped Austin up as the rest of the students began to pour into the room.

Master Jaa's funeral was the next day. Each of the students wore a black uniform as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Everyone passed by the coffin and said their final goodbyes then headed back to the temple.

Except for one.

Taylor stood atop a neighboring building, watching the funeral. He tried to hold back his tears, but it was a futile effort. He wept for the first time in years as his father figure was covered in dirt.

As Austin and Ashley walked back to the temple, Ashley couldn't help but think of Taylor. She could never admit it to herself, but she had a childhood crush on him, "So…should we go search for Taylor?"

"I dunno. He could be anywhere by now. Finding him would probably take too long. I think we should let Fate take its course and if we're meant to find him then we will." Austin replied. Austin was still too heartbroken from watching Master Jaa get shot to think about anything else.

Taylor watched the two converse, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He could guess, but he never liked making bets or assumptions. Taylor watched as a man rounded from behind a corner and began to talk to the two. Taylor figured that he had made them some kind of offer, as they looked at the temple, then at each other, then finally nodded to the man and followed him to a black limousine with the royal crest on its front door.

Present Day

"…and you pretty much know how that chapter of the story ended." Taylor finished.

"In flames." Let quickly said.

Adam returned from his shift as guard and saw the look on Let's face. He chose his words carefully, "Taylor. Your turn to watch guard."

Taylor got up and walked into the darkness as Adam sat down by the fire and finished his cup of blood,

"What was that about?" Adam inquired

"Nothing…nothing at all, kid." Let retorted, "When Taylor gets back we're leaving and heading towards the castle. This is our last campsite."

"What? What do you mean _last_?" Adam said in complete shock.

"Something came up…and I wanna bring it down. Once…and…for…all." Let said as he looked directly at the castle.


	14. Chapter 13: Dead Where They Stand

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence and language

Dead Where They Stand

Death Comes in Threes

Taylor walked back to the campsite to find Adam and Let packed up and ready to leave, "What the hell is this?"

"We're leaving. Now." Let replied. He got up and turned to leave.

"Why now? It's the dead of night!" Taylor asked.

Let turned around and quickly approached Taylor, getting in his face. His cold gray eyes were colder than normal, "Because the anger inside of me at the King and your buddies is gonna kill me one day and I'd rather bring them the f*ck down with me." Let turned and walked off again, grabbing his portion of the camp supplies.

Taylor remained calm throughout Let's small rant, then shook his head and gathered what he needed to carry and followed Let into the forest.

Adam couldn't think of what to say to calm the situation, but he obediently gathered what he could and followed Taylor and Let into the unknown.

Five Hours Later

The sun was beginning to rise as the three Zoanthropes made it to the castle of King Orion. The final testament of the government that had ruined the lives of the three men who now stood atop the neighboring hill and planned to bring it down.

Let dropped what he was carrying and began to head towards the castle.

Adam looked at what Let had dropped then at Let, "So we just carried all of this crap only to drop it?!"

Let didn't bother to turn around, but Taylor knew what Let was going to say, "You want it weighing you down in battle? I didn't think so, kid. Now drop the sh*t and lets go."

Adam reluctantly dropped what he was carrying and headed after Taylor and Let.

The three reached the castle gates and Let quickly burned them to the ground. As soon as the three of them stepped onto the castle grounds, they were surrounded by a group of soldiers. Taylor recognized them as a part of Frank Parrett's squad, "Well, well, Frankie boy. Didn't think you survived our last encounter."

Frank stepped out from the soldiers, blood still dripping through the bandages, "Well, you did quite the number on me…but now it's time I extracted vengeance for my wife and kids."

"Yeah…and how's that going for you?" Taylor mockingly replied.

"SHUT UP! You killed my family, you b*stard, and now…now I'm gonna kill you!" Frank yelled. Even his troops weren't used to Frank being this irate and they stepped back to let Frank attempt to kill Taylor.

Frank charged Taylor and tried to punch Taylor, but Taylor ducked out of the way connected with an uppercut to Frank's gut. Frank panted for air as Taylor stood up and whispered into his ear, "I didn't kill them."

"Li…liar!" Frank managed to stammer out the word. He tried to kick Taylor's legs out, but Taylor blocked Frank's legs with his own.

"You think I'm lying? You should be thankin' Adam over there for achieving vengeance for your family." Taylor said. He trying to remain patient, but he was having trouble with Frank's denials.

"But that kid killed Lance." Frank replied. Taylor took his hand out of Frank's gut and Frank stumbled backwards, "That son of a b*tch killed my best friend! Why should I thank him?!"

Suddenly, everything that Taylor was trying to say made sense to Frank: Lance had killed his family and pinned Taylor for it.

"Took you long enough to realize, Frank." Taylor said.

"But…but he was…he was like my brother." Frank was still getting over his epiphany.

"He was trying to use you to kill Taylor. He knew you didn't have anything against Zoanthropes and figured that killing your family and blaming a Zoanthrope would sway your opinion." Let said, "When he was in my squad, he struck me as the type of guy who would do anything to achieve his goals."

Frank collapsed to the ground and thought about everything that had transpired between him and Lance that had brought them together. One of Frank's soldiers raised his gun at Taylor, but Adam quickly jumped in front of the man and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into the castle walls, shaking the entire castle.

The rest of Frank's squad backed away from the three Zoanthropes as Taylor knelt down beside Frank and put a hand on his shoulder, "Look, you need to get out of here because the three of us are going to take the castle down." Taylor stood up and nodded his head towards the castle and Let and Adam nodded back.

The three walked towards the entrance to the castle and stopped. Let looked at the ominous structure before them, "You two might wanna transform into your Zoanthrope forms."

"What about you? You not goin' to transform?" Adam asked.

"Don't need to." Let replied as his hands were encircled with flames and he punched down the doors.

The nobles inside began to flee in terror as a Demon-Tiger, a Golden Griffin and Let entered the castle and proceeded towards a room where the labs were located.

When the three got there, they found the room to be completely empty except for a man in the center writing some papers. The man swiveled his chair around to look at the intruders. He smiled as he got up and approached them, "You must be the three Zoanthropes who have been trying to bring down the government. Too bad that's it all for nothing."

Suddenly the man transformed into the hulking creature that Adam had seen while he as being experimented on and charged them.

Let was able to jump over the man as Taylor and Adam dove to the side. Let fired a blast of flame at the man, but he lazily deflected it to the side.

Adam tried to attack the man head on, but he lazily smashed Adam aside. Taylor ran circles around the man, hitting him and quickly dodging the man's attacks, but he was having little effect.

Adam got up and decided that he would only be able to defeat the behemoth using only one method. Adam's golden feathers began to darken as his darker side began to consume Adam. The man stopped what he was doing and Taylor ceased attacking the man as Adam's power surged beyond normal levels.

The man tried to strike Adam down, but when he hit Adam, his fist broke on Adam's chest. Adam then smirked as he let out a beam of flame from his hands that sent the man flying into the wall behind him and pinned him there.

The man quickly broke his bonds and deflected the next blasts of flames that Adam sent at him. The man pounced on Adam and began to pummel Adam into the ground. When the man got up, Adam was a bloody mess and the man turned towards Taylor and Let, who were unsure of what to do next.

The man pounced on Let, but Taylor knocked him off quickly and the man turned towards Taylor and jumped on him instead.

Before the man could inflict any damage, a blast of white fire knocked the man into the wall.

Let and Taylor looked at the source of the beam and saw Adam, but instead of him being possessed by his darker half, his feathers were a pure white, "Light…over darkness." He said calmly.

Suddenly, a black circle appeared beneath the man as he looked confused at the circle beneath him. Suddenly a white circle appeared above the man and he looked up as the two circles approached the man and surrounded him in a gray circle. In seconds the sphere compacted upon itself and imploded in a flash of bright light. When the light dimmed, the man was completely disintegrated.

Let looked at Adam, who had overcome his dark half and possessed full control of his hidden power, "Where the f*ck did that come from?" He said in complete chock. He never thought that it was possible for Adam to wield that sort of power, but he had been proven wrong.

Taylor gripped his arm as the birthmark of a Demon-Tiger began to burn white. Adam looked at the birthmark as a birthmark of the bottom half of the circle, a griffin, burned black on his chest.

The two took a second to take it in, then almost out of instinct, they knew exactly what to do.

The two walked towards each other and when they touched, there was a another flash of light, but when the light dimmed this time, Taylor stood in his Demon-Tiger form, but his fur was white with black stripes and gigantic black wings protruded from his back. And the full circle of the Demon-Tiger and Griffin chasing each other glowed black on their chest.

Let was nearly trembling at the being that stood before him, but he was able to collect himself, "And what should I call you know?" He joked.

"You can call me Vishnu, the God of Destruction." The being replied. Its voice was that of both Adam and Taylor. He looked at the door behind him, "Shall we proceed?"

"Yeah." Let replied. He was still uncertain about what stood before him, but it looked like he didn't have a choice in the matter.

The two burst through the door and came into a room that was completely darkened.

"I'm sensing two power sources. One more powerful than the other, but both are troubled more than the average human." Vishnu said.

Suddenly, the lights came on and Austin Stopher and Ashley Hurd stood across the room, though something was off about them. Their eyes were blood red and their pupils were completely gone, "Long time, no see, Taylor." Austin scoffed. Despite the powerful being that stood in front of them, they seemed calm.

Vishnu lowered into a fighting stance and created a ball of flame in his hands, but Let stepped in front of him and looked at the two mercenaries, "Allow me. These worthless pieces of sh*t ruined my life, and I want vengeance."

Austin and Ashley lowered into a fighting stance as Let created two balls of fire in his hands. Then, Let's inner anger came out and his eyes turned white and his car glowed red and as he let out a primal scream, the room shook and blue fire erupted from beneath him.

When the fire quelled, Let stood with his shirt torn completely off and claws had grown where his hands once were as horns protruded from his head. Black wings were spread on his back as spikes began to force their way out of Let's elbows and a black marking appeared on his forehead and a similar mark appeared all over Let's chest and abs. A snake made completely of fire sprouted from the ground and wrapped itself around his right bicep, then snaked its way down to his waist and wrapped itself around his waist twice in an 'X' then snaked its way up Let's back and over his shoulder and hissed at Austin and Ashley. Let summoned two giant balls of blue flame in his hands, "My name, mortals, is Shiva. The God of destruction…and I will be the death of you."

Vishnu and Shiva, life and death, the beginning and the end…

Shiva looked at Austin and Ashley as the flames in Shiva's hands grew brighter and hotter and the three charged towards the center of the room to engage in a battle of life and death…


	15. Chapter 14: Vengeance From the Grave

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Mild violence and Gore

Vengeance From the Grave

Satisfaction and Heartache

Shiva, Ashley, and Austin charged towards the center of the room, but Shiva was able to land the first strike on Ashley, sending her flying into the wall behind her. Austin tried to hit Shiva, but the fire snake lashed out and clamped down on Austin's hand. Austin cringed, but didn't holler in pain and tried to hit Shiva with his other hand and connected with Shiva's face. Shiva only moved his head from the punch, and then shot his glare back at Austin before having the snake throw Austin into the wall.

Shiva then flew up to Austin at breakneck speeds and tried to smash his fist into Austin, but Austin was able to move out of the way as Vishnu's fist smashed into the wall with such force that it got stuck in the wall.

Ashley took the opportunity to attack Shiva from behind and kicked him in the back of the knee, making him fall to his other knee as he tried to take his hand out of the cracked wall. Ashley then drove her knee into the back of Shiva's head and drove it into the wall and Austin the dropkicked Shiva in the side, knocking Shiva to the ground. Despite having the upper hand temporarily, Austin had accidentally knocked Vishnu's hand out of the wall and freed him from his momentary cage.

Austin tried to stomp on the chest of Shiva, but Shiva was able to roll out of the way then swiped Austin's legs out from under him. Shiva then sprang up and grabbed Austin's legs and began to lift him then slam him into the ground. Shiva lifted Austin again by the leg and began to swing around before letting go and throwing Austin into the ground. Ashley tried to sneak up behind Shiva, but he sensed her presence and mule kicked her in the stomach. Shiva then turned around and hit her with an uppercut that sent her into the air. When she was close enough, Shiva kneed her in the stomach and balanced her there before delivering an elbow to both her middle back and the back of her neck. Shiva then palmed Ashley in the face, knocking her onto her feet and grabbed her by the temples with one hand and with the other punched her in the face once, then elbowed her in the face then punched her in the stomach and lifted her off the ground with his fist. Shiva then spun one hundred and eight degrees and threw Ashley to the ground and bounced her off the ground. Vishnu then kneed Ashley in the back of the head and quickly grabbed the back of her head and smashed her face into the ground. He then dragged her across the ground quickly before throw her into the air. Shiva then ordered the fire snake to lash at Ashley. The snake pounced off of Shiva's shoulders and hit her into the wall and pinned her there as it burned through her skin. The snake dissipated as Ashley then fell to the ground.

Austin and Ashley got up and realized that despite the enhancers the government had given them, they were nothing compared to the being in front of them.

Vishnu watched from the door with mixed feelings. One half of him had grown up and been like an older brother to the two mercenaries while the other half of them only knew Let's side of the story about Ashley and Austin, "So…how are you two still so blind to what the government is doing even after being on the inside of it all?"

"It's simple, actually. These experiments are the first step towards creating the ultimate army so we can spread our rule to other lands." Austin replied as he wiped the blood off of his chin.

"You want to expand this tyrannical rule?! Didn't Master Jaa teach you better than that?!" Vishnu's voice began to revert back to Taylor's voice.

"You haven't gotten the benefits of getting in line, Taylor. We now have an unlimited supply of power and resources at our disposal." Ashley said.

"Still…the experiments are so inhumane and immoral that only the coldest actually support them!" Vishnu replied. Adam's voice was beginning return to the same level of volume as Taylor's as the two began to unite as one once more.

"Well, we're loyal to the government. Unlike you, you worthless, pathetic anarchistic swine." Austin retorted.

"I'm the swine?! You're the war pigs mongering for more power and destroying anything for the cause!" Vishnu boldly stated.

"Well, sometimes, you have to kill to live." Ashley chimed in.

"Let me and Austin settle this one, Ashley." Vishnu retorted, and then turned his attention back towards Austin, "Senjii taught you so much better than this. I was there for those lessons and I know what he taught you, so why would you go against what he said?!"

"Because…would you rather have money or power? Or would you rather have both? Orion has given us the third option."

"Yeah, well, he promised Adam a powerful position in the upper military echelon, but instead he turned him into an A.Z!"

"Well, he gave him unlimited power from the looks of it. He should be grateful, not spiteful, but instead, he's acting like the ungrateful little bug he is and trying to bring down his very own creator."

"Shut up. Just shut up!" Shiva said.

"What? Is this hurting your ears?" Austin mockingly said.

"No. Your voice irritates me."

Shiva waited for either mercenary to attack him, but they were able to catch him off guard by attacking him both at once. Ashley swept out his legs as Austin kicked Shiva in the face, knocking Shiva to the ground. From there it became a schoolyard brawl as Austin got on top of Shiva and began to throw punch after punch on Shiva, who was trying to cover up, but his arms were being pulled by Ashley.

Shiva was able to generate enough power to create a giant pillar of blue flame from where he was laying, sending Ashley flying into a wall and blasting Austin into the air. Before Austin was able to realize what was happening Vishnu flew up to him from the ground and connected with a knee to his stomach, sending him further into the air. Vishnu then teleported to the ceiling and hung upside down like a bat and then flew down towards Austin's limp body and then stomped on Austin's back and drove him into the ground from fifty feet into the ground.

Shiva stepped off of Austin's limp body and took a deep breath, then smiled and created another pillar of fire underneath him that again blasted him into the air and again Shiva teleported above him, but instead of stomping him into the ground, he began to pummel Austin with fists as they plummeted to the ground. When they hit the ground, the earth shook and Shiva was still pummeling Austin with his claws. Shiva then lifted Austin up by the temples and blasted a stream of fire that sent Austin into the wall behind him.

Austin groggily got up as Ashley began to stumble to her feet as Austin's body began to make a whirring noise as his hands then folded out and a cannon protruded from his wrist.

Ashley then tried to distract Shiva by attacking head on, but he lazily knocked her aside.

Austin smiled as he lined up his shot. Shiva was distracted, as was Vishnu, by the annihilation of Ashley.

Before Austin could get in a shot, a ball of fire ripped through his arm, causing the cannon to implode and sent Austin flying.

Everything stopped and everyone looked at Austin's near dead body.

A cold voice broke the silence, "This isn't your fight, corporal…"

Shiva sighed as he recognized the voice and knew what was about to happen.

"It's mine." Shuren said as he stepped into the light, "Been a while, Let."

"Yeah…it really has, Shuren." Shiva replied.

Shuren stepped into the light as Austin struggled to get up but before he could do anything, Shuren fired another fireball that ripped through Austin's chest and killed him.

Ashley instantly ran from the room as the rest of the Four Generals entered the room.

"You know why we were selected as the Four Generals, right Let?" Gale asked.

"Not entirely, but how about you clarify, old timer." Shiva replied.

"Each of us was related to a different element. Shuren here had incredible bursts of anger when he was a kid, which led to him being able to control Fire. I always had abnormal strength much a kin to the Earth. Elle was incredibly quick with words and movements, like the Wind. And Julia was-" Gale was cut off by Julia's voice.

"I was very fluid and once I started I couldn't be stopped, like running Water." Julia interrupted.

"But…you were the 'X' Factor. You were supposed to be more powerful than all of us combined. The Fifth Element. Let's see if it holds true." Shuren said.

"No rest for the weary. And what makes you think you can stand up to this power of mine?" Shiva asked.

"Because," Shuren answered, "I doubt that you're the true Fifth Element."

"Well, in that case…how about I prove it with my fists?" Shiva said.

Each of the Generals readied for Shiva as he channeled an aura of blue flames around himself.

The Four Elements of Creation and Death, the supposed Fifth Element, whatever the outcome, something was going to give…


	16. Chapter 15: Way of the Fist

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

**Warning:** Violence, Language, and Mild Gore

Way of the Fist/Finale

The True X-Factor and Resolution

"Well, Let, how about you take the first shot." Shuren taunted. The other three Generals weren't as easy going as Shuren was in this situation, but they were able to hide it well.

"Actually, I'll take the first shot if you don't mind." Vishnu chimed in. Vishnu walked towards the five figures standing in the center of the room, but Shiva stopped him.

"No, this is my fight." Shiva calmly said. He turned his focus back to the Four Generals, "Well, seeing as I'm stronger than the four of you, I'll let you make the first move."

"But, that last one was your fight and I need to let out some steam." Vishnu replied.

"Yeah, well, these four would eat you alive." Shiva retorted.

"Like I care? I can come back, y'know." Vishnu retorted as he walked up to Shiva's side, "And I want a piece of the action."

Shiva turned back to Gale, "Hey, Gale, you know how I asked that the next time we fight, you didn't take it easy on me?"

"Yeah. What of it?" Gale replied, somewhat hesitantly.

"Well…if you don't you'll be dead." Shiva smiled maliciously as the Four Generals prepared for the two deities, "Vishnu. I call the Valkyrie and the leader."

Vishnu smiled, "Fine. I get the old timer and the tomboy."

Shiva and Vishnu channeled a huge amount of energy into their hands that erupted into balls of blue fire. Shiva gave the first cry and charged the generals, with Vishnu right behind him and the ultimate battle began.

In the King's Private Quarters

King Orion was awakened by the sounds of fighting coming from the former labs. He quickly got up and tried to run out the door, but his son, Cronos, stopped him, "Father. You're very sick. You need your rest. I'll deal with it." Cronos helped his father lye back down and exited the room.

The hallways were darkly lit and Cronos could barely see, but his hearing was heightened and he used sound to make his way to the labs.

Unfortunately for Cronos, he couldn't see the figure in front of the door, waiting for him with a knife.

He was only able to see the glimmer of the knife before it entered his stomach and his vision went blurry, "Rest in pieces, half-blood." The voice was that of a woman.

Avelle De Leon pulled the knife out of Cronos' stomach as he fell to his knees. She watched him dye slowly and licked his blood off of her blade, "Such hypocrisy."

She shook her head and laughed a little, "I'm helping the same b*stards who tried to kill me. How f*cked up is that?" Again she laughed, "Well, it happens right, Avelle? Look at me. Talking to myself like a straight jacket jockey. Well…I did what I needed to do, and now is when I make my dramatic exit."

With that she ran to the ledge of the hallway and jumped off and began to jump down ledge to ledge and hit the ground running, her brown hair flowing in the midnight breeze.

In the Former Laboratory

Shuren dodged Shiva's fist and was able to land on his back, slamming him to the ground. Shuren began to pummel Shuren's back as Julia created a ball of water in her hands and threw it at Shiva. Some of the water his Shuren and extinguished the flame he had in his hand, causing him to stop attacking Shiva, "What the f*ck, Julia!? I thought we got over this!"

"Well, I hit my target, so back off." Julia shouted back.

"No, you f*ckin' hit me!" Shuren matched with Julia.

Shiva stood up and shook the rocks off of him, "I believe you're both missing the big picture, here."

Before either of the Generals could react, Shiva grabbed them both by the temples and flew them into the wall behind them. Shiva then threw Julia across the room and focused on Shuren, "You've shown me nothing but hate, and now…now I do the same to you."

Vishnu connected with Gale's face, but Gale only stumbled back, the upper crust of rock on his skin beginning to peel, "What the f-"

Vishnu couldn't even finish his sentence before Elle hit him in the back with a gust of wind that sent Vishnu flying into Gale, who caught him and threw him to the ground, then jumped on Vishnu and began to throw haymakers at his head.

Vishnu threw Gale off and kicked Elle in the stomach, sending her flying into Julia, who was just getting up groggily. Vishnu then began to pummel Gale before sending him into the air with a kick to the chin. Vishnu the teleported above Gale and created a ball of white flames and blasted them at Gale, sending him rocketing to the ground as Vishnu ontinued to fire a stream of flames.

Shiva continued to pummel Shuren into the ground, but stopped when he saw Elled fly into the wall behind her. Despite being the incarnation of Death, the human part of his soul still cared for Elle.

Shuren took the opportunity to throw Shiva off of him and pounced on him, throwing fist after fist at Shiva. Shuren then grabbed Shiva by the horns and tossed him into the air and tried to deliver a kick to Shiva's head, but he moved out of the way and answered with a kick of his own.

Julia slumped back down from the force of Elle and the whiplash knocked Elle clean out.

Shiva and Shuren attempted to hit the other, but the only collision that happened was either the other blocking the attacker or hitting the attack with the same attack of their own. The shockwaves of Shuren and Shiva's fists hitting each other at the speeds the punches were flying at caused shockwaves that threw Vishnu and Gale off balance.

Vishnu then dive bombed and stomped on Gale's back, but Gale was able to roll over, knocking Shiva off balance and hit Vishnu with a punch on Vishnu's way down.

Gale then grabbed Vishnu's legs and lifted him into the air then slammed him back down into the ground, then lifted him up again and threw him onto his shoulder and fell backwards, driving Vishnu into the ground. Gale then floated over began to impale Vishnu's head with punch after punch.

Vishnu then kicked Gale off of him and kipped up then landed a kick to Gale's right knee, knocking Gale to one knee. Vishnu then turned around kneed Gale on the face, knocking Gale backwards. Vishnu then picked up Gale by the throat and threw him into the air. Vishnu then punched Gale in the stomach on his descent that knocked the wind out of Gale as he coughed up some blood. Vishnu then threw Gale into the wall behind him, knocking him out.

Shuren and Shiva continued their even exchange until Vishnu kicked Shuren in the side, sending him flying into a wall. Shuren got up, shook the cobwebs, and attacked Vishnu, assaulting him with a barrage of fists, and fended off Shiva at the same time.

This wasn't the same Shuren that Shiva had known while in the military. Desptie the power that Shuren had back then, it was nothing in comparison to Shuren's power now. It wasn't natural. It was the same situation with Ashley and Austin. Shiva deduced that the government had given its higher ups some sort of performance enhancer that increased their fighting skills.

"So…performance enhancers?" Shiva asked, still attempting to hit Shuren.

"Yeah. Why?" Shuren replied while blocking both Vishnu's and Shiva's attacks.

"Did you take just yours, or did you steal someone elses?" Vishnu asked.

"I took the ones that weren't given to anyone. Your point is?" Shuren said as he punched Vishnu in the stomach, sending him flying.

"Our point is that you're abusing the sh*t, and it's gonna cost you big time." Shiva responded.

"Like I care. The government has the anti toxin if I need it, so I have no issues with the abue."

"Well, that just means that you're so weak you have to rely on drugs to boost yourself."

"Well, the risk is worth the reward, seeing as I've become more powerful than anyone could ever dream." Shuren said as he kicked Shiva in the stomach, sending Shiva into the walls behind him.

"Yeah…but it ain't natural, bub, which means you're fake." Shiva said as he got up. Shiva and Vishnu looked at each other and knew what they needed to do.

Shiva sent a blast of fire at Shuren's feet, creating a cloud of smoke around him. Both Shiva and Vishnu flew into the air and hovered next to each other. Shiva then looked at Shuren through the smoke, "Bhagavan's Wrath." Both raised their inside hand and channeled a large amount of energy into a ball of flames. Both of them released their energy into a beam, Shiva's energy burning black as it snaked around Vishnu's white energy blast.

Shuren looked up as the smoke cleared and saw the two intertwined blasts, but couldn't react quick enough and was hit with the full brunt of the beams.

When the gray light dimmed, Shuren was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Vishnu and Shiva floated to the ground and looked at the Four Generals strewn about the room, "And you said they were gonna eat me alive." Vishnu joked.

"Let's just finish this." Shiva said. There was no humor or anything in either his voice or his eyes.

Vishnu and Shiva proceeded into the darkly lit corridor. Shiva tripped after only a couple of steps and created a ball of fire to see exactly what he had just tripped on and saw the body of the Zoanthrope Prince, Cronos, lying in a pool of blood. Apparently, someone had snuck onto the castle grounds and killed him with a sneak attack using a knife, "Well…I guess Avelle had an epiphany." Vishnu said as they turned back towards their main objective.

The King's Private Quarters

The bodies of the soldiers flew through the doors as King Orion sprung to his feet and looked at the shadows standing in the doorway.

The silhouette of a Tiger with horns and griffin wings stood next to the form of what could only be classified as Lucifer. The two beings approached King Orion as he fell to his knees. He looked up into the pair of blood red eyes and then into the pair of cold white eyes, the fear ever evident in his face.

"This…this is for my family." The being with the white eyes said.

The King's final scream echoed through the entire castle grounds before everything went back to silence.

Five Minutes Later

Shiva and Vishnu flew around the top of the castle before landing on the hill that they had come one. They looked at each other as they both began to channel an inordinate amount of energy into their hands, "Ishvara's power." Shiva said as they both released their beams which flew above the castle and melded into an enormous ball of gray energy. Shiva and Vishnu then flung their hands to the ground as the ball flew into the castle and exploded, disintegrating the castle in an engulfing flash of gray light…

Five Years Later

A man walked into the store that was named 'Vishnu's Medical and Military Supplies'. His eyes scanned the store as he looked at the man behind the counter, who appeared to be the owner of the store, as the other owner of the shop came from behind a door and began to talk to the first owner.

The man leaned against the wall behind him, "'Vishnu's Medical and Military Supplies'? Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical?" The man asked. The two men looked from each other to the source of the familiar voice and made contact with the gray eyes that they had come to know so well, "Long time, no see, you two."


	17. Epilogue: Beneath the Skin

**Disclaimer:** I claim neither Bloody Roar's properties nor any characters that were not created by me; I make no profit from the writing of this story.

Beneath the Skin: Epilogue

"This Is My Curse"

_If you're reading this, then you know not only what I've been in and what happened as a result. You know what I've been through and what lied ahead of me. You know the main players, and you know what their role in the little farce was. You know who I truly am, and what the definition of reality is and where lurks. Reality is undefined and the truth lies in one place and one place only: Beneath the Skin._

_After Taylor, Adam, and I killed King Orion and the rest of the royal family, razed the castle to the ground and fell back into darkness, the monarchy was brought down and a new form of government, filled with hope was created. The governmental system was changed to that of a democracy. Gale, Julia, and Elle retained their positions but were named as three members of the Established._

_Frank Parrett was named the Fourth General and the Final member of the Senate to replace Shuren. Frank eventually married Julia and they had one beautiful child. She looked exactly like her mother, along with having her kindness and her father's determination. Frank and Julia opened an orphanage for children whose lives had been destroyed by wars. While Frank was participating in the meetings commenced in the Senate, Julia would run the orphanage, which they named after Frank's first wife. Frank named Taylor the godfather of his children, and despite the earlier mix-ups between the two, they became good friends, laughing and having good times in between the fights they lead on the battlefield._

_Shuren's body was buried underneath the Senate Building, but his grave was erected in the Graveyard of Heroes. The Senate decided that despite Shuren's closed off attitude, that he should be immortalized and they built a statue of him in front of the Senate. Even today, no ill word is spoken of 'The Military Prodigy.'_

_Avelle De Leon slipped into the shadows after the event. Despite her deep hatred for Zoanthropes, she was one of the main causes of the fall of King Orion. A search party was sent out for her, but they returned unsuccessful. The members of the senate, along with a few suggestions from Taylor, issued an ad that was guaranteed to attract Avelle's interest. When she came into the Senate, she was offered the position of the head of the Assassin's brigade, a group of trained assassins and thieves that were paid to right wrongs committed throughout the former monarchy. Avelle accepted without hesitation._

_Tabatha Ray spent the rest of her days in the castle, serving King Orion, but when the tyrant fell, she quickly took up the position of the Senate's personal assistant. Her years spent there were short and she passed from natural causes._

_Lance's body was discovered one day in the desert, but everyone at the event denied knowing what happened to him. Eventually, Lance was forgotten by nearly everyone, but his legacy on the battlefield was still admired by many._

_King Orion was buried on the outskirts of his former empire in the desert. His son, Cronos, was buried in the Zoanthrope graveyard._

_Gale was named the chief of the newly established Senate. His calm nature made him the perfect candidate. Gale soon married Avelle and they had three children, two boys and a girl. They boys took after Gale while the girl was almost as mischievous as her mother, but her parent's kept her in line. Gale and Avelle grew old together, watching their children grow up. All three of the kids went into the military, with the two sons becoming one of the most feared duos since Taylor and Adam destroyed the castle. The daughter stayed more in the backlines, healing the wounded and providing advice to the soldiers._

_Austin, despite his sudden mood swings and violent nature, was buried next to Shuren and given a plaque on the Senate building along with other's that had proved their loyalty to their nation. His grave was erected in the Graveyard of Heroes._

_Ashley and Taylor married eventually and they made each other very happy. Ashley was thirty two and Taylor was thirty six. The joy they brought to each other's life was truly beautiful, like a ray of hope for the future shone in their eyes. They had two kids, two boys that were just as ruckus as their father. The older brother, Senjii, was three years older than his younger brother, Austin. They named Adam the godfather and both Adam and I attended the showers for both of them. Both were born with the same birthmark as Taylor, and Taylor recognized it and took care of them, hoping that they wouldn't have to follow the same path their father had taken. Eventually the two sons would pick up where Senjii Jaa left off and opened a school that taught Muay Thai. Taylor would inspect the classes while his sons taught. Every year, on the day that Shuren killed his best friend, Taylor would visit Austin's grave to talk to him and pay respects. The amount of flowers on Austin's grave were numerous and all of them were from Taylor and his family. Taylor and Adam would open up a store named after the being they were halved from that sold supplies to the military and the medical soldiers. 'Vishnu's Medical and Military Supplies' eventually became the only benefactor that the military trusted. Taylor continued to work with the military, managing the store as a side job, and leaving most of the responsibility to Adam._

_Adam eventually married Julia as it seemed Adam was the only person able to deal with Julia's non-stop talking. They were the same age and seemed to be a perfect couple. After five years of marriage, they had their first child. The two decided to name her after Julia's older sister figure, Elle. Elle grew up to be as social as her mother, but despite her incredibly feminine image, she could hold her own. Three years later, Adam and Julia had their second child, who they named me the godfather of, along with naming him after me. I don't know what it was, but something about him reminded me of him. Perhaps it was the scar he had on his forehead that was similar to mine, but thankfully for him, it wasn't the same. Eventually, Let became a prominent fighter, but had the light-hearted attitude of his father. Their daughter began to spread the word of the orphanage that Frank and Julia had started, helping children whose lives had been ravaged by war. Adam and Taylor eventually opened 'Vishnu's Medical and Military Supplies' and became the prime benefactor for the military, with every gun and syringe being proved from Vishnu's. Taylor still fought in the military, leaving Adam with most of the responsibility, but the two made a deal that they would alternate missions while the other managed the store._

_Elle and I began dating and married five years after our first date. We named Adam and Taylor as the godfathers of our children. Elle continued to work in the Senate as I kept performing mission after mission alongside my traveling companions. Elle was still the one in the Four Generals who would settle issues and in fighting. I was still considered the Fifth General, and was considered the unofficial fifth member of the Senate. Elle and I had two children, a boy and a girl. We named the girl Tabatha after Tabatha Ray, who had cared for me and raised me for most of my life. My daughter followed the same path as the woman we named her after and became the personal assistant for the Senate when she turned thirteen. Two years after Tabatha, we had a son. Elle and I decided to name him Haru, after my older brother, who I looked up to like a god. After having Haru I was able to tame the demon within me and assumed full control over my body. Every year, I visit the graves of my family to pay my respects to the people I barely knew._

_One Hundred Years Have Passed Since the Orion Empire was Razed to the Ground, but it is still the most prominent memory I have._

_All of the people that had come close to me eventually grew old and died off while I remained unchanged. My heart died more and more with each loss._

_Gale was the first to go. His heart had grown old and tired, and his health was deteriorating. When Gale passed, his elder son assumed his role in the Senate. Gale was buried in the Graveyard of Heroes, where the soldiers and commandeers that have risen above the rest have been buried, and his tombstone was placed next to Shuren's. Gale had finally become one with the Earth that had given him so much power._

_Avelle then died soon after. Her years of thievery had finally caught up to her and she died soon after Gale. Her daughter assumed control of the Assassin's Brigade and picked up where her mother left off. Avelle was buried next to her husband and I can only assume that the two are now spending eternity together in Heaven. Around forty years later, their children followed suit. The elder son died of natural causes, but the younger son died in battle. The daughter also died of natural causes and was buried in the graveyard adjacent to the Senate Building. The sons were buried behind their father. Gale's grandson took his grandfather's place in the Senate and Gale's granddaughter is now working in the Parrett Orphanage._

_Frank was buried in the Graveyard of Heroes when he was killed on the battlefield. A lucky shot ripped through his neck, severing the blood flow to his brain. His gravestone was erected in the front of the Graveyard, alongside the other generals. Julia took the news hard and despite her daughters comforting her, took her own life. Julia was buried in the graveyard next to the Senate House, where Frank's name was etched onto a plaque that names the great heroes of both war and peace. Their daughter was placed in control of the orphanage and she continued her parent's legacy, but she too grew old and died of natural causes. She passed the orphanage on to her children, and they, too, are carrying on the Parrett legacy._

_Ashley aged beautifully while she kept up with Taylor's hectic lifestyle. Taylor and Ashley eventually moved into the temple that their sons had erected and assisted their sons in any way they could. Ashley eventually died of natural causes. Taylor's abilities kept him going for another thirty years, in which he was able to manage 'Vishnu's Military and Medical Supplies', fight alongside the soldiers, despite only fighting in his Zoanthrope form only, and teaching alongside his sons. Taylor's Zoanthrope form never changed no matter how old Taylor grew. Taylor was eventually killed in action and died at around the same time his sons did. Taylor and Ashley were buried next to their childhood friend, Austin, and their sons were buried next to their parents._

_Adam and Julia continued to drive each other crazy as they grew older. Adam continued to balance his financial life at Vishnu's while still fighting for the military. After Taylor was killed, Adam focused more on the store than the military, but the dark half of him still wanted blood and Adam knew he couldn't survive without it. The next mission that Adam went on, though, ended with him being overtaken by his darker half, despite Adam believing that he had it under his control. The result was Adam going psychotic and massacring an entire village. When Adam returned, he made a vow to only drink the blood of the guilty. He thrived on the tainted blood until about two years ago, when his reputation had become so prominent that there were no crimes committed anywhere in the Republic. He blew away in the wind much like every other Artificial Zoanthrope created. I've decided to keep Adam's death a secret so no others will even attempt to commit a crime. Julia died long before her husband, as did their kids, but Julia's death was much more understandable. She and her squad were fending off a sneak attack of invaders and she was caught by surprise. The sword pierced her stomach and she died moments later. Adam's daughter replaced her mother in the Senate. Elle then died three decades later from natural causes. Adam's son, Let, found his way to me and asked me to train him like I trained his father and, regrettably, I did. What I didn't know was that Let had a much more powerful darker side than Adam did. When Let transformed into his darker half, he attacked me, but I was able to unleash Shiva and killed him in self defense. When the dust settled, I reverted back to my human form and carried Let to his father. Adam was understanding and forgave me, saying that he would have done the same thing. Adam and Julia were buried in the Graveyard of Heroes alongside their allies. Their kids were buried in the graveyard adjacent to the Senate Building._

_If you're reading this then you know what I've been through. Every so often, I'll visit the graves of those that hold a place in my heart and leave a flower and talk to them. I can only hope that they're resting in peace._

_I try to isolate myself, but the bonds I have with each generation of my family brings me back. Some consider immortality a blessing, but it has only brought me pain and suffering._

_Everyone I meet and get close to eventually dies and leaves me alone._

_This…is…my…curse._


End file.
